Equinox
by hufflepuffbrunette247
Summary: Years after she put away her wolf form Kelsey thought she wouldn't have to deal with angry vampires anymore, but when her son Caleb imprints on a vampire hungry for revenge, what will happen? Lots of OCs but also many cannon characters. R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey readers! Yes, this is the sequel to _Solstice_, it takes place 28 years after it as you will soon see, and while I reccomend reading _Solstice_, I'm trying to make it to where it makes sense without it for new readers. But first, a quick question and answer session.**

**Q: Do you own Twilight?**

**A: No :(**

**Q: Do you own Kelsey, Caleb, Shelby, Abby, Collin, Luke, Ivy, Ava/Rosalie, Megan, Lilly, and Mason?**

**A: Yes, yes I do. :)**

* * *

Equinox

"'_Oh,' I said. That was slightly unsettling, knowing that there was still a probably vengeful vampire out there, likely plotting my sister's death, but I knew there was very little chance she'd actually try anything, and an even smaller chance she'd succeed."_

--_Solstice_

Chapter 1.

"Seth, I'm worried about Caleb," I said, climbing into bed after another wearying night of sitting up, waiting for Caleb's fever to go down and for the medicine to set in. He'd been sick since Friday night and now it was Sunday.

"I'm sure it's just a bug or a growth spurt or something," Seth mumbled, still half asleep.

"You know who else thought it was just a growth spurt?" I asked referring to the painful days before I changed.

"Kelsey, there are no covens of vampires here, there's no reason he would be changing," he reassured me.

One of the main reasons we had moved to Bozeman, Montana, was that it was developed and sunny enough most days of the year that vampires would usually stay away, but there were always wanderers and it was December, so it had been pretty cloudy for the past few weeks. But where could Caleb have been around a vampire casually enough to have made the change? My first guess would be that that one had somehow managed to slip into the school system, even being in the vicinity of a vampire could activate the genes, not cause a transformation, but definitely the physical preparations, so maybe Seth was right. If anything it would probably be just a few days of painful preparation which came to nothing. At least tomorrow was the first day of their winter break and he wouldn't have to go to school for a couple of weeks, that would give him time to recover.

Just as I was falling back of asleep, I heard footsteps come into the room again.

"Mom, Caleb's moaning again," Shelby whispered. She was only ten, but being the offspring of two wolves I worried about her going through this too.

I sighed. I had the feeling it was his metabolism speeding up, just like a wolf. "Alright, go back to bed honey, I'll be there in a second." I picked up the bottle of ibuprofen from the bedside table. Once Shelby was out of the room I shook Seth awake again. "Seth, I'm serious, I want you home as soon as you get off work tomorrow, there's just too many signs," I whispered getting off the bed.

"Alright baby, but I'm telling you he's fine," Seth said, rolling back over to the middle of the bed.

I got a cup of water and went back to Caleb's room where he was sprawled out on the bed, eyes closed, muscles tensed. I brushed the hair off his burning forehead and he opened his eyes. He seemed to get older every time I saw him. He was only sixteen, but his looks were pushing eighteen now. Seth summed this up as part of the growth spurt, and while I was hoping for this too, I couldn't help but believe it was a change, just to be prepared.

He sat up and took the pills, then collapsed on the bed again. "At least I don't have to go to school tomorrow," he groaned.

I saw the opportunity to check my school theory. "So, Caleb, how is school? Anything new?"

"Yeah, there's a new girl in my science class, Megan, so now there's an even number and she's my lab partner instead of Jeff and Toby."

That didn't mean anything. I pressed on. "What's Megan like?"

"She's kinda quiet, but she's nice and she's pretty smart. I think my grade in that class will be better now."

"Oh, that's good," I said quietly. At least he didn't say anything about cold pale skin, changing eye colors, amazing beauty, or a sickly sweet smell. We sat there for a few more minutes and finally Caleb fell back asleep.

Caleb was sick for a few more days, but while his temperature continued, his aches and pains were gone and he was back to his usual self by Wednesday, just in time for Abby, Ivy, Luke, and Collin to come into town.

"Oh my goodness! You've gotten so big!" I said picking up Ivy. I couldn't believe she was four already. I could remember when Abby was that age. How did time get by so quickly? "You seem to have gotten bigger too," I grinned, glancing down at the small bulge in Abby's stomach, it was hardly noticeable but definitely not the bulge of someone who was just getting fat. "Is there anything you'd like to tell us?"

Luke beamed, wrapping his arm around her.

"Well, I would have told you earlier, but we just found out last week and figured we'd just surprise you when we came up. I'm pregnant," Abby smiled, and Collin and I embarrassed her badly by making a big fuss about it.

"Congratulations!" said Caleb, giving her a hug.

"Caleb, you're burning up!" Abby exclaimed at his touch, she put her hand to his forehead.

"Yeah," I said, pulling him back, "he had a pretty big growth spurt this weekend and he still has a little temperature, but he's fine."

"The boy takes after his mom," Collin said, putting his hand on Caleb's shoulder, "I remember when you went through a spurt like that, it was like you went from a little girl to a woman that week," he said wistfully.

"Well, we need to get all this stuff inside," I said picking up a suitcase. Hopefully this would get Collin away from his reminiscing quickly enough for him not to remember my five day disappearance right after the "growth spurt."

Later, Abby and I were making dinner, Collin and Luke were attempting to help us, but neither of them knew how to cook very well. Seth was upstairs changing from his work clothes, and Shelby was playing with Ivy in the living room, then Caleb walked in. "Hey mom, I sort of forgot to mention this, but we have a project to do over the break for science, and I have no idea what Mrs. Miller means by some of the stuff she wants us to do, so I asked Megan but she couldn't explain it over the phone. Is it okay if I take the car and run by her place for a little while?"

I frowned at him. He really should be around when the family comes to visit, but it wasn't like there was anyone near his age, and he had been too sick to work on the project until now. "Be back by seven, that's when we're having dinner," I said as he grabbed the keys and walked out the door.

"Alright! Thanks mom!" I heard him shout as the door slammed behind him.

It was eleven o'clock. Caleb wasn't home yet. He called saying he'd be a little late at six forty five, but he hadn't come home yet. Shelby and Ivy were in bed, which was good because Abby and Collin were trying to keep me from having a nervous breakdown while Luke was trying to do the same for Seth downstairs as he was waiting at the door.

"I'm sure he's fine. Teenagers are irresponsible and reckless. I bet he's just hanging out with his friends," Abby said, attempting to reassure me.

I paled yet again. What if he gotten in a car wreck while being irresponsible and reckless with his friends?

"Abby, I don't think you're helping," Collin said, pulling me out of my pacing. "Caleb's a good kid, but he's sixteen, teenagers will do things that upset their parents. Remember when you took Abby and disappeared for five days?"

Would he ever stop using that against me? It had been twenty-eight years! Still, this brought another possible scenario to my mind. What if he and Megan had gotten into a fight and he changed? I had already suspected Megan was a vampire, what if he got hurt? I got back up off the bed and started pacing faster.

"Dad, I don't think you're helping either," Abby said quietly though I could hear the slight amusement in her voice.

Finally I heard the door open. Collin and Abby wouldn't have heard it; the improved senses from my transformation had remained even after I had stopped changing. Jacob thought we could still change in emergencies, but I hoped we would never have to.

I heard Luke coming up the stairs; Seth had started to interrogate Caleb. "He's back!" Luke said, sticking his head in the room.

I sighed. I could hear them shouting now. I was pretty sure that human ears would be able to pick this up.

"But Dad! That's not fair!" Caleb argued.

"I'll tell you what's not fair! What's not fair is us waiting up half the night for you to get home when you said you'd only be a little late!" Seth yelled.

"But I told Megan we'd meet here tomorrow!"

"Well you'll just have to call her again and tell her you can't."

Suddenly I heard a loud thud followed by an ear shattering howl. One of them had changed in their anger.

"What was that?" Abby asked.

"Ummm…I think I left the T.V. on. I better go turn it off," I offered weakly as I hurriedly left the room and ran down the stairs.

Seth was feebly trying to calm Caleb down as he ran around the living room in his wolf form, bumping into almost every piece of furniture possible.

"What did I tell you Seth?!" I exclaimed as I caught another glimpse of Caleb's copper colored body turning the corner and going into the kitchen.

"Okay, you were right! What do we do now?" Seth said as more crashes came from the kitchen.

"Go get some clothes for him and figure out something to tell everyone. They can hear this loud and clear. I'll go try to calm him down."

"Are you sure?" Seth said anxiously. "He's pretty worked up. What if he hurts you?"

"What if he's just scared? Remember, you're the one who's mad at him; he isn't going to respond to you. I have to do it Seth, now go before they come down to see what's going on."

He kissed me lightly on the forehead before turning and hurrying up the stairs.

I walked into the kitchen and something hit my legs. I fell to the ground as Caleb rammed into me, interrupted from his circles. I tried to grab him, if I could get him to be still he might listen. A sharp pain ran up my arm. It felt like I had been stabbed in about five different spots. I gasped in pain as the daggers were removed. Caleb had finally stopped moving as he stood over me in shock. I realized he had bitten my arm and it was now bleeding pretty badly all over the floor and my shirt. He whimpered and nudged my shoulder. I used him to steady myself as I sat up; it was only a little dizzying.

"Shhh, it's okay baby. I'm fine." I whispered, stroking his head. I slowly got up to bandage my arm while Seth was still upstairs. He would freak out if he saw me like this. Caleb balanced himself on his hind legs using the counter as I washed my forearm until the bleeding stopped. He opened the cabinet and knocked down the first aid kit. I opened it up and applied five large band aids to my wounds. Caleb used his mouth to pull down a couple of paper towels and started to mop up the blood on the floor.

"Caleb, really, let me do that; just wait by the door. We'll go take a walk once Dad comes back down with some new clothes," I said, wetting some more paper towels to get up any blood that had dried.

He wouldn't leave my side though as I scrubbed the tile clean and sat down at the table. He paced and started to whimper again.

"Hush," I said, pulling him over with my good arm. "Everything's going to be fine." I heard Seth coming down the stairs.

"Okay, they think that you fell down the stairs, but that you're fine...oh my God! What did that boy do to you?!" Seth exclaimed rushing over to me.

"It's fine Seth, it looks worse than it actually is. It'll be like nothing happened in two or three days," I stammered. Another thing I still had from being a wolf was fast healing, although it had slowed down significantly, my wounds still healed faster than the average person.

"How did this happen?" he growled at Caleb as if he could answer.

"Seth, you're being ridiculous! It's not his fault! Besides, I 'fell down the stairs.'"

"No! I won't let him hurt you!"

"It's our son, not a murderer," I said, lowering my voice, if he knew I was calm he might calm down too.

Seth stood there for a while, just quietly staring at Caleb. "Alright," he finally sighed. "Let's get you changed back." He opened the door and Caleb scampered out. Then he walked over and wrapped his arm around me. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Apologize to Caleb, not me."

We walked into the backyard and Caleb paced a few circles before sitting down.

"The first thing you need to do," said Seth, "is make sure you're completely calm, for the first few days if you're too stimulated then you'll never be able to control yourself. Now are you calm?"

Caleb nodded.

"Alright, now all you need to do is visualize your human self and focus on that, I know that for some people it helps if you run while you do it, so if you can't do it just sitting there, jog around the yard a few times."

Finally after fifteen minutes of alternating between jogging and just sitting in one spot Caleb finally changed back. Seth handed him his clothes and he quickly got dressed. "What just happened?" he asked, still examining himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Caleb, do you remember the stories I used to tell you when you were little about werewolves and spirit warriors and 'cold ones'?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, but those are just stories, right?"

"No Caleb. Those stories are actually true. The presence of a vampire has caused you to make the change from a boy to a man and wolf so quickly. That's why you were sick this week."

"Wait...you said vampires. Like, Dracula and silver bullets, crosses, and stakes vampires?"

"Well, not exactly like that. It's more like the blood sucking part, plus super strength, speed, and heightened senses. It's like the ultimate predator, and their prey is humans," I explained.

"You know about this too? So, you two can both...?"

"No," Seth said, "not anymore. While you're a wolf you stop aging, which really isn't bad for about five years because that's about how long it takes to catch up to your looks, but as long as the vampire influence isn't too heavy, and you don't willingly change you'll eventually become a human again and start aging."

"So…what am I supposed to do? Go hunt down the vampire or something?"

"No, you're not supposed to do anything. If we were at La Push we could see if there were any others going through the same thing. Were there any voices in your head?" Seth asked.

"No…why?"

"Pack mentality, the other members of the pack can hear your thoughts and know your feelings." I explained

"Strange…usually there's at least a few, but they may not have been in form, and the Cullens aren't in Forks right now are they?" Seth asked.

"No, last I heard they were going around South America, hiking in the Andes and stuff," I said. Thinking of the Cullens, I remembered I definitely needed to tell Rosalie about Abby being pregnant. Hopefully Alice hadn't seen yet, and if she had, hopefully she hadn't told. I wouldn't put it past her, Alice liked to drop huge hints if she saw something important, like when she sent me a congratulatory card three days before Seth proposed.

"Do you think we should call Jacob or something, see if there's a pack in La Push still?" Seth interrupted

"Maybe in the morning Seth, it's after midnight," I said. Jacob and Ellie were probably sleeping, or at least getting ready for bed.

"Alright, I guess there's not much we can do for now is there?" he said. "I'll go get you some different pajamas, you'll freak them out going in all bloody like that." He turned around and went inside.

"Do you have any more questions?" I asked Caleb once Seth was inside.

"Yeah, a lot, but it'd take too long to ask them," he said shyly.

"I know; Dad and I went through the same thing at your age. I'm sorry it had to happen to you though."

Caleb shrugged. "It wasn't like there was anything you could have done."

"Considering that the vampire probably snuck into your school somewhere, I could have homeschooled you."

"Ummm…no thanks," he said with a look that showed that he thought it was the worst idea ever.

"Well if you have any questions just ask."

"Okay," he said somewhat absentmindedly.

"Where were you tonight?" I asked.

"I just got caught up with Megan. We got to talking and lost track of the time. She seemed really shy in class, but it was like I met a whole different person tonight, she's totally awesome."

"Well, your father's punishment is final, but maybe she can come over some other time this week."

"Yeah. We still have a little more on the assignment to do, and I really think you'll like her."

Just then Seth came to the door. "C'mon! It's cold out there!" he called. We came in and I changed into the clean clothes he had brought me. Seth and I then agreed to make Caleb go upstairs and apologize for being so late, which he did without protest because he was still freaked out about accidentally biting me. I probably could have told him to drop and give me twenty and he would have done it. Of course Abby and Collin attempted to defend him in the process.

"He still has a fever Kelsey, you shouldn't have let him out," Abby argued. It was funny how she acted like a second mother to Caleb sometimes. He was born when she would come up and visit Seth and me on the weekends, and so they had always been close.

Collin managed to bring up how I had "lost track of the time" for five days. Usually, Collin was just about the best father anyone could have, but when he remembered that incident he used it ever opportunity he got, convinced that I would tell him where Abby and I went. Of course, I never could, but considering that was really the only thing I could complain about was seriously one of the best things ever. Finally though, things settled down and everyone went to bed.

"I told you so," I teased Seth as I got into bed.

"I know," he said, trying to sound cheerful, but there was something wrong in his voice.

"What's wrong baby?" I asked as he climbed into the bed with me.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head, "it's just been a long day."

"I know; tomorrow will be better."

"I love you so much," he whispered anxiously, running his fingers along the edges of my multiple bandaids.

"I love you just as much…only more," I chuckled, moving his fingers from my arm and pressing them to my lips.

"Haha, like that could ever happen," he grinned, pulling me on top of him.

"What are we going to do about Caleb tomorrow?" he asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I guess we'll just see what happens, I mean, maybe the vampire was just coming through town or something. We'll call Jacob and ask him tomorrow," I yawned. There was no time for thinking about things right now, it was almost 1:00 in the morning and the vampire didn't seem to be threatening us so we had plenty of time...right?

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**I'd like to thank Shelby and Megan for reading this beforehand so that I might not have the horrible grammatical errors that come with changing POV in the middle of the story...as always, read and review! I always love to hear your suggestions and comments!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Well, here's chapter 2. Just for clarity Rosalie/Ava (who is the Rosalie mentioned in chapter 1 and NOT Rosalie Hale) will be called Ava from now on. Now, a few of you had questions, so I will now answer them**

**Q: Do you own Twilight?**

**A: No.**

**Q: Can we just read the story now?**

**A: Yes :)**

* * *

Chapter 2.

Caleb's punishment lasted until Saturday. Mainly I think it was because Seth wanted to meet Megan, and that was when his little Christmas break started. So at 3:00 Caleb went out to get Megan.

"Hey Abby, will you go get us some pasta at the store?" I asked. We were running low and I wanted to make spaghetti for dinner.

"Sure. Daddy, will you come with me?" she asked sweetly.

"Fine. How can I say no to that?" he smiled, getting up from the table.

I made a short list with a few other things we needed on it and gave her the credit card.

"Make sure she doesn't go crazy," I said to Collin.

"What? Me? Go crazy with a credit card? Never…" Abby joked.

"Riiiiiiiiiiight…" Collin laughed. "C'mon baby, let's go."

They went out to the car and pulled out of the driveway just as Seth and Megan were pulling in.

Megan was just about as pretty as they come, her dark brown hair coming down just past her shoulders in waves. If she wasn't so pale I would have thought there was some Native American in her, and yes, she did appear to be a vampire, it would explain Caleb's change. We had called Jacob and he said Caleb would be fine until we came up after Christmas, and then Caleb could learn more about being a wolf. Seth and I could tell him all we wanted to about it, but he would have to experience being with the pack himself.

As they walked into the door red flags and loud siren alarms suddenly went off in my head. A vampire named Megan? It was far too familiar for comfort. I stayed in the kitchen making myself busy with the dishes, boiling water for the pasta, anything that would keep me in there to keep an eye on Megan.

Megan was a very common name, I convinced myself. There were sure to be at least ten or fifteen vampires with that name in the country, and if I remembered correctly, the mate of Henry Thorton was blonde. Still, I cautiously slipped out of the room for a few minutes to tell Seth that Megan was a vampire. He also shared my concern, and went downstairs to see for himself. Upon closer inspection I found that her eyes were a very dark shade of burgundy, almost dark enough to pass for a brown, showing that she hadn't eaten in a while. I didn't feel comfortable having her in the house, especially with Luke, Ivy, and Shelby around, and with Abby and Collin coming home at any minute. The last thing I wanted was any vampire run-ins.

"Megan," Seth said. "Can we speak with you privately?"

Megan nodded politely and went into the other room with us.

"Megan, we know what you are, and it's nothing against you personally, but we have family visiting and we'd really prefer not to take any chances, so we would really appreciate it if you could go home," Seth said.

"I understand. I could tell right when I came in. Caleb is a new wolf isn't he? He hasn't said anything yet. But I'll ask him to take me home," she said.

We walked back into the kitchen and Megan made some excuse about not feeling well and Caleb went up to go get the car keys from the living room.

Suddenly we heard the backdoor open. Abby and Collin were home. Megan immediately seemed interested and took a deep breath.

"Well Mrs. Clearwater, it seems that we have met before," she said, danger dancing in her eyes. It was then I knew it was her.

"You will go with Caleb, and he will take you home. After that you will not come back to this house. Do you understand?" I growled.

"Alright," she said, a devilish grin coming across her face, "I'll go now, but I assure you, I'll be back…we vampires are very patient when it comes to these things."

"Ready to go Megan?" Caleb asked innocently, walking back into the room, either totally unaware of the incredible tension in the room, or completely ignoring it.

"Yeah," she said, slipping right back into her "not feeling well" act and they walked right past Collin and Abby.

"We got everything on the list and nothing else…are you satisfied?" Abby grinned.

I looked at Seth and he nodded. I took that as meaning I could do whatever I wanted to about the situation. "Actually, we're going to nix the spaghetti tonight. I need you all to repack your bags. We're going on a special trip."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Of course…after we go all the way to the store you decide to nix the pasta and kick us out…" she said sarcastically.

"Shut up, we're not kicking you out," I said. "Everyone is coming. In fact I was just going to pack Caleb a bag. Seth do you want to help Shelby pack?"

"Yeah, I'll go do that," he said warily.

"Okay, I want to leave as soon as Caleb gets back, so pack quickly please!" I said, hurriedly now. A plan of action was forming in my mind, but I was still starting to panic.

"Are we going to La Push?" Seth asked once we were alone.

"It's the only thing I can think of…" I said, hoping he had thought of something better.

"Alright…I'll call mom and Billy, tell them we're coming," Seth said, picking up the phone. He called them, explaining to Jacob, who picked up the phone, what had happened.

"Mom! How long are we going to be gone?" Shelby asked from the top of the stairs.

"I don't know Shelby, just pack enough for a week. We can wash clothes if we need to," I said.

"Are we going somewhere, Mom?" Caleb asked, suddenly popping up behind me.

"Yes, we're going to La Push, I need you to go pack a suitcase."

"Why?" he asked. "I thought we weren't going up until after Christmas."

"Something's come up," I said vaguely as Luke walked through the room. "We'll talk about it later, now go pack."

"Fine," Caleb sighed taking out his cell phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I have to tell Megan we can't meet tomorrow because of this surprise trip…"

"Give me that," I said.

"Why? What did I do this time?" he complained.

"It's nothing you did. I know this seems unfair, but it'll make more sense later. I'll explain once we get to La Push so the faster you're ready the faster you get your phone back," I said, putting the phone in my pocket after he handed it over and stormed up to his room.

I sighed. At least this way Megan wouldn't know where we were. She would probably guess in a day or two, but at least she wouldn't be flat out told. I went upstairs and started packing myself, getting rid of some of my anxiety by packing as quickly as possible.

"Kelsey?" I looked up from my work to see Abby, standing in the doorway.

I tried to smile.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, her eyes full of concern. "You were fine when we left, but now you just seem really upset; I'm starting to worry."

"Yeah, everything's fine, nothing you need to worry about," I lied, again attempting to smile.

"Hmmm…for some strange reason, I don't believe you," she said, stepping into the room and sitting down on the bed.

"Well, there's nothing else I can tell you," I shrugged.

"Fine then, be all mysterious, I'll find out one way or another," she said mischievously.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," I chuckled, pretending it was just some lighthearted matter.

"Mommy!" we heard Ivy shouting across the house.

"We'll see, this isn't over yet," she grinned, "but really, if something's wrong tell me. I just want to know, okay?" she said seriously, and then left to see what Ivy wanted.

Soon, although it would never be soon enough for me, we were all packed up and piling into the car. There were just enough seats for everyone to fit in the SUV.

"Daddy, will you give me my book please?" Ivy asked from the very back row of seats, in between Caleb and Shelby to keep them from fighting.

"Sure thing Ivy," he said passing the book back.

I didn't get to see it, but I knew it was likely meant for a second grader.

"Is she really reading that already?" Collin asked, sounding impressed.

"Yeah, I think that mostly she likes to look at the pictures, but I'm pretty sure she reads the words too, she can always tell me what the book's about when I ask her," Abby said.

We all knew Ivy was extremely smart for her age; she always had been, earning her the nickname Ivy League. They tried to be modest about it, but you could tell Abby and Luke were proud.

On the other hand, my idiot son's phone vibrated in my pocket for the fifth time. In the privacy of the passenger seat I pulled it out and read the messages. I was aware that this was a total invasion of privacy, but considering I was his mother and it was a life or death situation, I could forgive myself. All five text messages were from Megan. They said: "What time r we meeting tmrw?" "Idk if you got the last 1. What time r we meeting tmrw?" "R u rly not getting these?" "Caleb, what's up w/u not responding 2 my txts?" and "W/e…Ill just come 2 ur house tmrw. C u then."

I had to chuckle at the dark humor in the last one. She would come, but no one would be there. Though that would simply increase her desire to hunt us down, it would have been fun to see her reaction. I was pretty sure Caleb liked Megan to some extent, but I could tell that since she found out he was a wolf she had been using him. After all, how many packs of Shapeshifter wolves were there in the world? Even if she hadn't gotten the close connection, it would have been easy to track us down from any wolf.

About halfway there, all the kids either had to go to the bathroom, or were complaining about how hungry they were, so Seth had to pull over at the nearest gas station.

I looked at my cell phone. As much as I would hate to, I'd have to tell Ava. She'd kill me if I left her in the dark about her own daughter, but I felt horrible about her coming into it. She hadn't seen any of us in person except for Seth and me since our wedding 21 years ago. Abby was 9, Collin was 37, and none of the kids were born.

I flipped it over and over in my hands. This would probably be the last chance I got to call her in private before tomorrow or late tonight, I had to do it. "Actually I have to go to the bathroom too…" I said absent mindedly to Luke and Collin before getting out of the car. I walked to the side of the building as if I were going to the restroom, but kept going until I was at the back of the station. I slowly dialed the number, making sure it was right. South America was definitely not in my calling range, so we'd have to make it very short.

"Hi! This is Ava. Obviously I can't come to the phone or I would have answered it, but please leave a message and I'll get back to you whenever I get it." Well that made it easier.

"Hi, this is Kelsey. Um…well, we're on our way up to La Push there's kind of an emergency and I know you're in South America and everything, but at least call me back. I'd explain now, but I don't have that many minutes, just think about what I told you Thursday…"

"Kelsey what are you doing behind the gas station! Seth is going to leave without you if you don't come on!" Abby called.

"Sorry, I've got to go. Just call me back. Thanks, bye." I mumbled before hanging up.

"Oh, sorry Kelsey, I didn't realize you were on the phone," Abby apologized. "Who were you talking to?"

"You wouldn't know her, and it's fine, that was just her voicemail."

We went back to the car and rode the remaining way to Forks. Once Abby began to recognize the scenery she started to question why we were going to La Push, and I couldn't give her a good answer.

"For the last time, why are we here Kelsey?" Abby asked impatiently as we walked up to the door.

"You'll see…" I said, hoping that once we had been here a while she would make up her own explanation to which I would agree to.

"Kelsey, Seth?" Ellie asked, answering the door. "What are you doing here?"

"We came to 'visit' you guys. Caleb has been especially eager to come up here," I said, hoping Jacob had told her about that.

"Oh! Okay! Well come on in. Billy and Jacob are somewhere in the back and Sue's in the kitchen. Are you going to be staying long?"

"Yeah, we'll probably be up here for Christmas," I said casually, "we'll have to catch up some time later."

"Okay, umm…so I don't think anyone else is coming in, so there's two bedrooms. I guess I'll let you split them among yourselves. Also, Rachel's kids are sharing the big bedroom, so if the kids want to room with them I'm sure it's fine."

"Of course it's fine!" Sue said, coming into the living room and greeting everyone in her usual fashion which included hugs, kisses, and comments on how much you've grown since she last saw you if you were a child when she last saw you. While Seth, the kids, and I knew about this, even enjoyed it at times, Abby, Collin, Luke, and Ivy, who although had met Seth's family several times, hadn't quite gotten used to Sue's overly warm demeanor.

The first room was Seth's old room with barely enough space for the bed, much less people. The other one, as well as the one the kids were staying in, had been added on once Jacob's maintenance business had taken off, and were more spacious. We finally decided that Seth and I would take his room since it was hardly big enough for one person and there was only two of us, while Collin, Abby, Luke would take the bigger room. Ivy, who had been hiding behind Abby since Sue had made a big fuss over her because she had never seen Ivy before, was, for now, going to stay with Abby and Luke because of her shyness.

Britta, Kenley, and Lena, Ellie's daughters, helped us bring in our stuff. Kenley offered to show Abby, Luke, Ivy, and Collin around and Shelby tagged along, leaving a good opportunity for Seth, Caleb, and I talked to Britta and Channing about the pack.

"I'll go get Koda," Channing said, turning around to leave the packed bedroom.

"Why?" Britta asked. "We all know he's not the Alpha."

"So, he's Beta. That counts for something," Channing argued.

"Oh stop worshipping him! If you want to get someone go get Leah!" Britta said, pushing him away. "Sorry about that, things have been a little disorganized since Koda found out he wasn't going to be Alpha. He's such a baby."

I nodded. I remembered Ava and Ellie both telling me something about Jacob choosing Leah as the new Alpha over his own son. It made sense, Leah had more experience and she _was_ Jacob's Beta.

"Hey you guys!" Leah laughed when she walked in the door. She looked like she would be Caleb's older sister, not Seth's. We had told Caleb and Shelby that Leah was actually Seth's younger sister. "Welcome to the pack Caleb!"

"Did Jacob tell you about…?" I started.  
"Yeah, it sounds like even more of a piece of cake than last time. Gosh Caleb, you're just like your mom, bringing us all these baby fights. One vampire? Psh, if you're going to drag in the vampires you may as well give us a challenge. Most of the pack has never fought a vampire."

"What?" Caleb asked confusedly.

"Your friend Megan…the sadistic vampire…who's out to kill your aunt?" Leah hinted.  
"No…that can't be true! She's so nice!" Caleb exclaimed.

"You haven't tell him yet, did you?" Leah asked.  
Seth and I shook our heads.

"So what are you saying?" Caleb asked.

"When I was a little younger than you, Abby and I were attacked by a vampire, Henry, and that was when I first changed. We came here because he was still after us, which is where your father and I met. Anyways, eventually Henry and his family found us and we killed him. Megan was his girlfriend. All she wants is revenge, Caleb, she even told me herself," I explained.

"NO! That's not true! It's just not true!" Caleb shouted.  
"Caleb it's true. Vampires can be very vicious when it comes to avenging their mates. I once met one who created an entire army of newborn vampires to get her revenge," Leah added.

"You're all lying to me! Megan would never do anything like that! You're just saying that because she's a vampire and I'm a wolf! It's not like we can't be friends!" he howled.

"Caleb, calm down, the whole house can hear you," Seth said.

"No! I won't stand for you lying about her!" He pounded his fist against the wall.

Leah opened the window, "Caleb, go for a run," she said. Caleb hopped out the window and changed into this wolf form before he could think to take off his clothes. Leah gave us an encouraging look and went after him.

"Overreaction much?" I sighed, letting myself fall on the bed and slump over onto Seth's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. She was his friend before; remember how he talked about her? And now we're telling him she wants to kill Abby. He'll be fine, Leah will straighten him out," he said softly.

"I couldn't think of anything else to do. There was probably some other way…" I fretted. I shouldn't have involved Caleb in this, but what else could I do? I didn't have the time, resources, or power to kidnap them, or even just Abby, and run away to Mexico or something. There was no running. Just like last time I'd have to face this head on.

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**Well, I will be posting very soon. Chapter 3 will be in Caleb's POV...yay! Well, thanks for reading!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again! Well, here's chapter three, it's kinda short I know, but it has a lot of important info in it. Well, I hope you enjoy it!**

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Chapter 3.

Caleb's POV

I couldn't believe it. Why would they make up such a ridiculous lie to keep me away from Megan? She had promised me she hadn't been planning on hurting anyone on the way home from my house.

_Dude, she's a vampire. It's not like she's anyone important._ A voice said. It was coming from inside my head. For a moment I thought I was going crazy, but then I remembered Mom telling me about pack mentality. _Name's Koda. Leah may call the shots while I'm not here, but when I come back, I'm in charge,_ he continued.

_Shut up Koda. That's totally untrue. You're more obnoxious than your father, which we all thought was physically impossible, but somehow you pulled it off._ Leah said.

A small grey wolf and a big black wolf came running up on either side of me. I could tell the grey wolf was Leah and the black one was Koda.

_Why did you lie to me?_ I demanded.

_Caleb, we aren't lying to you. Why would we lie to you about something this serious?_ Leah said.

_Maybe you just want to keep me away from her._ I pouted, trying to run around Koda to bolt again, but he kept getting in front of me.

_Why do you even care? She's just a stupid bloodsucker._ Koda scoffed.

_Don't talk about her like that!_ I shouted, attempting to pin him down. How dare he? He didn't even know her!

_Oh my God…_ Leah said. I knew he had actually pinned me instead of what I intended, but he hadn't hurt me.

_Haha, he didn't…_ Koda snickered.

_Guys that's really not nice. It's not his fault._ A new, toffee colored, wolf said.

_Shut up Kenley. This is too good._ Koda mocked.

_Is that the one who we're gonna fight?_ The new wolf asked.

_Not anymore…_ Leah sighed. _Oh God, Kelsey's gonna kill me…quickly followed by you, Caleb, and anyone who tries to intervene._

_What?_ I asked. It wasn't that I was injured, I didn't feel injured. It might have been my outburst in the house; Mom had been on edge all day and that probably hadn't helped.

_You imprinted on a bloodsucker! _Koda laughed. He thought this was too funny, along with the fact he still had me pinned to the ground.

Before I could even ask the question Leah explained. _It's when you meet your perfect match, you'd do anything for them, it makes you feel all wonderful to be around them_...blah blah blah, you get the point. Leah had obviously given this talk many times.

_So we can't kill her because of Caleb? Way to go new guy._ Yet another wolf said. This one was dark brown.

_Yeah…_ a third new wolf, this one bronze, added. They all started to complain.

_Guys relax. We still need to be on guard. Caleb cares about Megan, but she may not feel the same way. It'd be stupid for any one of us to kill her, but it's our duty to protect humans, so we need to be prepared to restrain her, then maybe Caleb can talk some sense into his girlfriend._ Leah said_._

I sighed. They were serious weren't they? Megan was really out to get my family. Could I still love her if she killed Aunt Abby?

A resentful _yes_ was the resounding answer from the pack.

_Leave me alone! _I growled. Koda finally let me up. I just wanted to be alone in my head to think about this. Suddenly a question popped into my mind. _Can I control myself? Would I kill Aunt Abby if Megan asked me to?_

_I don't know Caleb. I just don't know. No one's ever imprinted on a vampire before, but I don't think you're like her minion or something, you'd probably try everything to get her to change her mind, but I don't think you have to do whatever she wants._

I didn't know though. It just seemed so easy when I was around Megan. Everything she said and did made sense; she could probably talk me into it before I could talk her out of it.

_Have more confidence in yourself Caleb. You're smarter than you're making yourself out to be._ Kenley said comfortingly.

_I have to talk to her. I have to tell her not to come. If either of them gets hurt it'll be all my fault because I insisted on bringing Megan to my house._

_Not now Caleb. Maybe later, but first we have to train you and teach you about vampires and wolves. You do know the legends right? _I nodded. My parents, as well as Grandpa, had told them to me all the time because I had always asked them too. Even Aunt Abby and Grandad knew them from listening to me being told them so often; I had even started to tell them to Ivy occasionally.

_Well, knowing your mom, she'll probably call up a vampire or two, but I guess I can let her tell you about that later. All you need to know now is that there are two types of vampires. Vegetarian vampires, like the ones who used to live here, feed on animals only. In the best case scenario you could convince Megan to become this type of vampire. Then there are regular vampires which compose most of the vampire population. If you see a vampire, you can assume it's not a vegetarian. These are the vampires that may come up for this,_ Leah flashed a series of vampires through my head_._ Carlisle, the leader and father figure, Esme, his wife and the mother, and their "children" Edward, Bella, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, Emmett, and Ava, as well as the vampire hybrid Renesmee. They all looked like they came straight out of a movie (well, one that took place at the North Pole because of their pale skin).

_Really, she's going to call up more bloodsuckers?_ Koda complained.

_Yes, the Cullens have helped us a few times and they'll probably be more than willing to help again. _Leah explained.

_Why? We can do it ourselves. _Britta, the dark brown wolf, argued.

_That doesn't really matter, they'll just come as a part of the 24/7 protection Abby will need. _

_Then that's good. As long as no one gets hurt._ I said. The sun was starting to set. _Can we just go back to the house now?_

_Yeah, it is getting late._ Kenley said. _I'll come up with you._

_Thanks..._ I said. She did realize I imprinted, right?

_Don't worry about her, she's just being the obnoxious suck up she was born as._ Channing said. _Even sharing the womb with her was unbearable._

_Besides, Lena's the one that likes you,_ Britta giggled.

_And Lena is...?_

_The youngest, _Britta flashed her image through my head, _she's only twelve, and she hasn't turned yet. _

_Oh...um...okay...please don't tell my parents about the whole imprinting thing, I want to tell them myself_ I said, mainly to Leah, but the others could do me the favor too. This was all really getting to be too much. I turned around and started to trot back to the house.

_Wait here, I left my clothes just outside the forest, then I'll go get yours. _Kenley said, running up ahead. I heard the soft wolf steps turn into much louder human steps as her feet crunched on the ground. In a few minutes she was back and she patiently waited, turned around of course, until I put my clothes back on.

"I know the pack seems really dysfunctional right now, but usually we're not that mean, I guess most of them have to get used to the fact that you imprinted on a vampire. It's never happened before," Kenley said as we walked back to the house.

"What am I supposed to tell everyone?" I asked. There was just so much information I'd gotten in such little time. If I could avoid it I might just not tell Mom and Dad about Megan, but right now I needed someone who I could physically tell it to without them freaking out over it.

"Kenley!" I heard her mom call.

"Sorry Caleb, I'd help, but I've got to go," Kenley said, jogging off.

I couldn't believe my luck, and all in one day! I thought I'd found the perfect girl, but no, she's out to kill my family. I thought I was going to find some friends to help me figure out how to live in my mutant freak form, but no, all I got was a bickering bunch of children it seemed, even though every one of them was older than me. I picked up a rock and hurled it at the nearest tree. I actually managed to knock of a pretty big branch. I threw a few more stones and knocked off a few more branches, each fell to the ground with a satisfying thud.

"Is everything okay?" I heard a voice ask from behind me. I jumped a little, I hadn't heard her coming. I spun around to see that it was one of the vampires that Leah had showed me, the one with the long, curly, dark brown hair, and the soft expression. I couldn't remember her name although I remember that Leah had stumbled over it, mixing her up with the harsh looking blonde girl. I doubted she knew who I was, which was perfect.

"No, not really..." I sighed. "You see, I imprinted on this girl..."

"What are you talking about? That's wonderful!" she exclaimed, seeming extremely excited. Maybe she did know me.

"It would be, but she's a vampire," I said.

"So? I'm pretty sure no one cares that much anymore."

"But I bet you're not seeking revenge on my family."

"Oh...you're right, that is bad," she said slowly, a worried look coming across her face.

"Uggh!" I cried, burying my face into my hands. "This is all my fault!"

"No, no...I wouldn't say that," she started, putting her hand on my shoulder. It was cold just like Megan's. I could also smell the vampire scent, and although I knew it bothered some of the wolves, it didn't bother me, it almost smelled good, even though it was better on Megan. "You can't help who you imprint on, and if she was looking for revenge she would have found you eventually," she sighed. "I should have figured she'd come after you. Vampires are almost as vicious as Shapeshifters when it comes to protecting and avenging their mates. Have you tried talking to her?"

I shrugged. I didn't know what I would do around her. I mean, I loved her, as strange as it sounded I loved her, it wasn't like I could rip her guts out, but it also wasn't like I could just give her permission to rip my family apart. "No, not yet, but that's what the pack wants me to do. They want me to talk to her after they catch her."

"What if that doesn't work?" she asked.

"I don't know..." I said shaking my head.

"So are you going to go talk to her before she gets here or are you going to just wait?"

"I guess I'll just wait for now. My Aunt Abby's pretty well protected up here with so many wolves, and Leah told me that a few of you were coming up."

Her face paled even more if that were possible. "Abby?"

"That's what Leah said."

She took a deep breath. "Oh, okay. I don't know if any of the others are coming up, Edward and Alice said they'd come if I wasn't back in a few days."

I tried to recall their faces. Alice was the one with the really short black hair, but I couldn't remember which one was Edward.

"I was just heading up to the Black's house if you wanted to come up with me. You know, unless you wanted to keep demolishing the forest," she offered. "I'm Ava by the way, Ava Cullen," she added as we started to walk together.

Ava! I knew it! "I'm Caleb," I said.

Ava smiled. "I thought I recognized you! Your mom has told me so much about you! It's so nice to finally meet you!" she said excitedly. Thinking of the Cullens I remembered something that my mom had said.

"Wait, my mom said you guys were in South America. How'd you get up here so fast?"

"Well as soon as I got your mom's call I went to the airport," she grinned, "and let's just say that just about every male in the airport was either easily wooed or easily bribed, so I was able to catch a flight to northern California, and I ran from there."

"You ran?" I asked in astonishment. We were in northern Washington, extremely far away from even the California border.

"Of course! It's much faster than a car or other human modes of transportation, and as long as you stay in the wooded areas no one sees you," she laughed. Then another thought popped into my mind.

"You're friends with my mom right?" I asked.

"You could say that," she said.

"Can you please not tell her about this, or my dad, or anyone really? I want to wait to tell them until after this is all sorted out so that there aren't as many hard feelings towards Megan."

Ava bit her lip. "I guess I can do that...as long as it's not a life or death situation or anything."

"Thank you so much!" I smiled.

Finally we made it up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. About thirty feet away Ava stopped. She seemed pretty tense, just staring at the house like she was in a trance or something. "Are you coming?" I asked, nudging her forward a little.

"Oh! Um...yeah, I'm coming," she said nervously taking a step forward.

"C'mon, they're not going to eat you, they're not even going to attack you," I joked.

"Okay! I'm coming!" she chuckled nervously, finally following me into the house. Once we got in all her nervousness seemed to fade away.

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**Okay, I need to thank my cousin Shelby for coming up with Ellie and all her children (all the wolves mentioned except for Leah), as well as Megan for continuing to let me use her name and helping with ideas. I hope to post soon, so tell me what you think of the different POVs. Like? Dislike? If there are any POVs you'd like to see coming up soon just tell me, Kelsey's next and so far I've got Ava for a chapter in the near future and maybe Collin or Abby for a chapter later on. Thanks again!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi readers! Sorry this took so long, but hope you enjoy it! :)**

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Chapter 4.

Ava's POV

I had to keep walking towards the door or else Caleb would keep harassing me about it. Of course he didn't understand. He just thought I was a random vampire his mom had made friends with, but this would be the first time I had seen Collin and Abby in twenty one years, and I had to guess they had grown since then. This would also be the first time I would actually see any of my grandchildren except for Caleb, and I had just met him ten minutes ago. Part of me was scared I wouldn't recognize them, and the other part was scared I would recognize and start sobbing, which would look like dry heaving, uncontrollably or have a nervous breakdown or some other inappropriate reaction.

Even before we got into the living room I could tell for the most part who was there just by the scent. There weren't any wolves, they all smelled the same. Jacob, Seth, and Kelsey pretty much smelled like humans, allowing me to distinguish their scents, but their blood still had a hint of wolf scent in it, making them not as appetizing, edible, but not appetizing, like a stale cracker or something. In complete contrast was Ellie's scent, the most mouth watering I had ever, and likely would ever, smell. Ellie was my blood singer, and I had almost killed her on a few occasions, but that was years ago, and now as long as I wasn't too hungry the scent was almost pleasurable. I also could smell a few other humans in the room. Definitely Lena, and maybe Abby, it had been so long since I'd seen her I'd forgotten what her blood smelled like.

Caleb continued to motion me forward, through the kitchen. "We pretend everything is normal right? We're not supposed to talk about it with the humans in the room," he whispered right before we got to the living room.

"I think so," I replied. It would be unlikely for Kelsey to have told Abby about wolves and vampires.

Once we got into the living room I only had about two seconds to look around before Ellie launched into our normal act in front of company. The act was true for the most part, I was her friend, and I had moved away, but in our little set up I had moved to North Dakota (where I was originally from) and was just coming up to visit. It worked a lot better when she was closer to my physical age of twenty six, but it would always be liable.

"Ava!" she exclaimed, getting up to hug me, this time actually somewhat surprised to see me. "What a surprise!"

Finally I got to look at Abby. She definitely wasn't nine anymore. I could hardly believe the beautiful woman my little baby had become. Kelsey had sent me pictures of course, but they couldn't compare to actually seeing her in person. She still looked like Collin for the most part, so she stuck out in the room just as much as Ellie, both of them having blonde hair and blue eyes. I felt the totally conspicuous beam coming across my face, but there was nothing I could do about it. The excitement was bubbling up in me and I knew I probably looked like a crazy person, but at least I was smiling for "no reason" and not sobbing for "no reason".

Abby got up, I hadn't been paying attention enough to know why, but I couldn't contain myself, I hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her.

She blushed. "Oh!...um...hi...I'll be right back," she said giving me a strange look and walked down the hallway into the bathroom. Oops.

As soon as she was out of earshot everyone burst out laughing at me except for Lena and Caleb, they were kind of confused, but even Jacob was roaring with laughter, and he hated me. If I could have blushed I definitely would have at that moment as I went and sat down on the other side of Kelsey. She hugged me, starting to tear up from her laughing.

"Thank you...you don't know how much I needed that," she gasped between fits of laughter.

Thankfully everyone quieted down after a little while. "Where are the others?" I asked Kelsey quietly, everyone else was still laughing and chatting too loudly to hear.

"They went down to the beach with Billy and Leah, they should be back soon."

"Do you have time to tell me what happened before Abby gets back? Caleb told me some of it, but I want to be sure."

"No, probably not" she said, glancing at Caleb for a moment, her mood quickly changed from relaxed to tense.

"Okay, maybe later?" I asked softly, running my fingers down her back.

She nodded. "So, you've met Caleb?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's a good kid, don't go too hard on him about this whole thing okay? He feels really bad about it," I said.

Just then Abby came back from the bathroom. "Hey...um, I don't think we've met...I'm Abby," she said hesitantly.

"I'm Ava, it's nice to meet you. I'm sorry about before, I wish I had a rational explanation for you, but I kind of don't," I grinned, shaking her hand.

"Oh, it's okay, I was just a little confused, that's all. Still cold?" she asked at my touch.

"Um, yeah, I just have a really low body temperature, it runs in my family," I explained.

"Oh, I just thought it was really, really cold outside!" she laughed, sitting down on the couch opposite us.

My head turned as I heard the front door swing open. A wolf and a bunch of humans. Little feet ran through the kitchen.

"Mommy!" A little girl ran into the room.

"Hi Ivy!" Abby picked her up and put her in her lap. "This is my daughter Ivy," she said. "Can you say hi to Miss Ava?" she asked Ivy.

"Hi," Ivy said shyly.

"Hi Ivy," I smiled.

Ivy had strawberry blonde hair, so I wasn't surprised when a redheaded man came in after her.

"Hey baby," he said plopping down next to Abby and pecking her on the cheek. Hopefully that was Luke, her husband.

He was quickly followed by Leah and Shelby, who was basically Kelsey's clone in looks except that her skin was a few shades darker which made her native American descent was much more clear, and right behind them was Billy and the love of my life.

He was older of course, but he was still handsome, though I may be a biased source. He had started to gray a little, but his hair was light enough to hide it well. I smiled sadly, wishing I could be old with him. Technically I was only two years younger than him, even if it looked like he could be my father now.

When he saw me he looked confused for a second, then gave me a little sad smile and sat down on the other side of Abby. I did look at the others more closely as well, but I couldn't keep my eyes off of Collin. I wondered if he recognized me, or at least thought I looked familiar. My heart screamed for me to get up and kiss him, but that definitely wouldn't be appropriate.

Kelsey nudged me. "Ava, you're staring," she whispered.

I looked away and glanced around the room a few times before I let myself look at him again. As much as it was killing me inside to be this close yet not have him, a little smile stayed on my face at knowing he was okay and able to move on with his life.

"Mommy says it's not polite to stare, Grandad," Ivy said very loudly in comparison to the soft chatter going on around the room.

Collin turned bright red and immediately looked down. Abby also blushed and took Ivy out of the room. Kelsey chucked until I elbowed her in the side.

"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to...it's just..." he muttered, still looking at the floor.

"No, no, it's okay," I said quickly, looking elsewhere also.

But even after that we still continued to stare at each other the entire time. Eventually Abby came back and Ivy whispered an apology to Collin, who put her on his lap and pretended to be preoccupied with her while staring at me.

Finally Sue started dinner and all the girls got up to help her, it took about five or six people because of the number of wolves who would be eating. I stayed to help with the cooking, but when it came time to eat I left, it would be not only rude, but also suspicious to sit there and not eat.

As I was walking around the side of the house I could hear them talking through the wall.

"Are you sure I don't know her Kelsey? I swear I've seen her somewhere before..." Abby asked.

"Yes Abby, you may have met once or twice, but it would have been forever ago." Kelsey said.

"She looks like your mother," Collin said wistfully, "you probably connected her with pictures you've seen."

"Oh, that's why you were staring at her," Abby said quietly, "but still, why did she randomly hug me if we don't know each other?"

"Lots of people hug each other when they first meet, maybe she just grew up in a hugging family," Kelsey posed.

At this they began to talk about other things and I left.

Oh Kelsey, she was really good at keeping the wolf thing a secret considering she had somehow been able to get away with not telling Collin where she went five days after she first changed, as well as why she ran such a high temperature all the time and always ate ravenously. While I was glad for her being able to keep secrets, I did occasionally wonder what she might be hiding from me. I was pretty sure there wasn't anything important I didn't know, but then, so did Abby and Collin.

I often wondered if Collin had ever found another woman, and while Kelsey never said anything about it, she may have just ignored the subject to avoid having me get hurt, and as much as I seriously thought it would be a good thing for him to find someone else, it would hurt a that night, at about the time I figured everyone would be going to bed, I went back over to the Black's house. I climbed through the open window. Kelsey was sitting on the bed in her pajamas.

"Hey," she smiled.

I sat down on the bed next to her. It had been a while since we had talked short of an occasional visit which would usually last only a few hours or letters or emails or phone-calls.

"So what all did Caleb tell you?" she asked.

"He said there was a vampire seeking revenge on your family, and that it was his friend, and something about Abby being well protected in particular. I figured it was Megan, Lilly warned us that Megan would definitely come back for revenge at some point, but why Abby and not you or Jacob?"

"I...I guess she wants Abby because it would be fulfilling what Henry wanted to do, getting revenge on us all by destroying who we fought to protect, and because without Abby, Henry might still be alive," she said quietly.

I took her hands in mine. They were shaking. "Baby, it's okay, just tell me what happened." It always felt a little weird calling her baby and treating her like my child after she got older than me, but in my mind I was still her mother and no matter how weird it was when I thought about it I would always act like it.

Her eyes started to fill with tears. "Caleb started to feel bad on Friday. He mentioned that he was lab partners with the new girl, but I didn't really think much of it. Then one day he asked to go see this new girl about some homework, and you know about how he changed later that night, I still didn't think much of it, so later he asked to bring her over and I was fine with it. Thank God I sent Abby and Dad out on an errand! We had asked her to leave and so they were going as Abby and Dad were going in and she was all like 'I'll leave now but I will be back," and so we left. I should have seen it! It was so obvious!" she said, breaking into quiet sobs.

I pulled her into my arms. "No, it's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. Everything's going to be fine," I whispered. Why couldn't this just resolve itself neatly? I hated seeing Kelsey fear for Abby's life twenty eight years ago and I hated seeing it now. It just wasn't right, neither of them did anything. Kelsey didn't even kill Henry herself!

"I'm so scared now..." she cried into my shoulder. "There's nothing I can do but wait anymore. I can't protect her."

"Kelsey, there are still plenty of people who are more than willing to make sure Abby is safe, and I'm one of them," I said, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Nothing will happen to her. She probably won't even notice. I love you girls and I will not let anyone hurt you."

"Thank you," she said sleepily once she had cried herself out. I continued to sit with her and stayed even after she fell asleep.

Finally Seth opened the door. "Hey!" he whispered. "I'm the only one my wife gets to sleep with!" he joked.

"Fine, I'll leave then!" I said, getting up and hopping back out the window.

I wandered around the Black place, the woods, and the Reservation all night, thinking things out, and by the time the sun was up I knew what I had to do.

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**Yay suspense! :) I definitely need to give a shout-out/ad to my friend Megan (twilight-chick-92) b/c she has been helping me immensely lately, so thanks to her and definitely definitely definitely go read her stories, they're all really good! What will happen next? You'll just have to wait to find out! Thanks for reading! :)**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry this took so long! A short disclaimer then I'll let you get reading. I do not own Twilight...at all...what so ever.**

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Chapter 5.

Kelsey's POV

The sound of the pre-game show was now blasting through the entire house and half the men in La Push were crowded around the Black's TV, placing bets and talking stats and scores. A lot of us were hanging around in the kitchen, there always seemed to be some kind of work to do there, but there were so many of us that it wasn't like we were always working.

"Hi Mom," Caleb said, poking his head in doorway.

"Hey Caleb. Why aren't you watching the game?" I wasn't sure exactly where he was on the entire wolf thing. We hadn't gotten a chance to talk since his explosion the day before.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked.

I nodded and followed him back into Seth and my bedroom. It was really the only somewhat private place in the house.

"Mom," Caleb sighed. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did yesterday. I'm sorry, I should have believed you. I know this is hard for you, it's hard for me too," he said softly.

I sighed. "I'm glad you understand now."

"I promise Mom, I'm going to do everything I can to stop this," he said, the anxiety growing in his eyes.

I rubbed his arm. "I know Caleb, I trust you. It's a lot to take on at once isn't it. Just one thing though; will you tell me what the pack is planning to do?"

Caleb gave me a somewhat blank stare. "Uh, well, I think we're going to wait for her to get here, and once we find her, we're gonna catch her, and then...uh..."

"There you are Kelsey!" a feminine voice said. I looked over my shoulder to see Claire, my half sister poking her head through the door.

"Hi Claire!" I said, getting up to hug her.

"Hi. Quil told me about Megan and everything, I'm so sorry," she said.

"Hopefully everything will work out fine," I said. Claire and Abby had been best friends since forever. They had even been each other's maids of honor (I was extremely pregnant with Shelby for Claire's wedding and Abby asked me to do whatever it was that the mother of the bride did, I didn't remember what it was exactly, but it came with a whole bunch of other stuff which basically included planning the entire wedding). Claire would probably be just about as upset as I would be if anything happened to Abby.

"Wow, you've grown! So I guess you're part of the pack now?" Claire asked Caleb.

"Yeah," Caleb said.

"Just stick with Reese, he and Leah are the only ones with a lick of sense in there."

"Oh! Uncle Reese is a wolf too! Cool!" Caleb said.

"Yeah, he's in the living room watching the game. You should go say hi. And as for you missy, Mom is looking for you."

Caleb left and I followed Claire back to the kitchen.

"Kelsey!' Delilah said, hugging me. Even though she was my biological mother, we had never gotten close. Because I had been adopted before we met the first time, the position of mother had already been filled, leaving me somewhat apathetic towards her despite her attempts to make up for abandoning me at birth. While I did keep in touch with her and such, I was much closer to Claire and Reese.

"Hi," I said. I never really called her anything, I already called Ava Mom and I never felt comfortable calling her Delilah to her face although that's what I did when I talked about her to others.

Just then Leah came into room, making out with a guy.

"Leah, it's too crowded to be doing that in here! Now find somewhere else to be or stop making out with Reese!" Sue chastised.

"Reese?" Abby asked.

"Yeah, we fell in love, isn't that wonderful?" Leah said dreamily. I laughed. She'd waited so long for an imprint she didn't even care that she'd have to wait for Reese to grow up before she could date him when she first saw him.

Abby stared, looking confused for a little bit. I knew she thought that Leah was much older than Reese, especially since Reese was younger than Abby and still looked about 21 even though he was 26, but finally she just shrugged it off.

"Hi sister who never writes, calls, visits, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera," Reese smiled. He was tall enough to easily see over Leah's head. That was how he always greeted me since Christmas several years ago when Delilah had a conniption because I didn't tell her I was pregnant with Caleb until we went up to visit, at which point I was about 6 months pregnant.

"Who are you again?" I asked in reply.

He laughed and pulled Leah off of him. "Good to see you again!" he said, wrapping me in a big hug, his grip tight and strong despite his lanky build. He sometimes reminded me of Seth or Jacob when I first met them.

Claire was the only one of the three of us that had never turned, she was still short relatively short, but graceful, having been a ballet dancer for basically all her life, she reminded me of Alice sometimes, never being able to shut up if you could get her talking. Reese, on the other hand, was clumsy before he turned, but he was easy going and sweet, which was a good compliment to Leah, who could definitely overreact sometimes, and so naturally once he turned he imprinted on her as well.

"Well, I'm gonna go watch the game baby," Reese said, pecking Leah on the cheek. We could hear the beginning cheers of the guys as the game started up. At about half time Abby and Claire went back to the bedroom to check on Ivy and Declan, Claire's 6 year old son.

"Hey! The guys are enjoying themselves! We should go do something too!" Ellie said.

"Yeah, we should definitely go shopping!" Claire said, coming back into the room.

"Where's Abby?" I asked. I knew how paranoid I sounded, but I simply had to know, the question would torture me until I did.

"She's in the other room with Ivy and Declan and Caleb, she's fine," Claire replied, rolling her eyes.

"I don't think shopping's a good idea so close to Christmas, the stores will be packed," Leah interjected. "Why don't we just get lunch?"

"Okay, that sounds good," Claire said.

"I like that," I added.

"Okay then," Ellie said, picking up the phone.

"You're not going to invite that bloodsucker are you?" Leah complained.

"Yes, yes I am," Ellie said, pausing from her dialing.

"Let's take a vote," Leah said, "who wants Ava to come?"

Ellie and I raised our hands.

"And who doesn't want her to come?" Leah was the only one who raised her hand. "What about you Claire?"

"I'm not sure who you're talking about," Claire shrugged.

"It's settled then, she's coming," Ellie said dialing the phone.

"Looks like you were outnumbered sister!" I teased.

"I'll go ask Abby if she wants to come," Claire said, getting up again.

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Abby's POV

"And then the wolves had the cold one surrounded. They pounced on him and ripped him to shreds!"

"Grrrrrrr!" Ivy giggled. "I'm a wolf, Mommy!" she said, and started running around the room pouncing on anything in sight. Sometimes it was impossible to believe that she was so shy and quiet in public.

"Me too!" shouted Declan as he joined in on Ivy's game

"Too bad, I don't think Mr. and Mrs. Black let wolves live in their house, you'll have to go live outside," I said.

Caleb snickered.

"Oh whatever will we do?" Claire laughed.

"And as for you...as much as I appreciate culture, you're going to have to stop corrupting my child," I said to Caleb jokingly.

"Hey, I'm not that bad an influence am I?" he asked.

"Who's already gotten into trouble once this week?" Shelby teased.

"Okay, okay, I'll go take the pups outside."

"Thank you," I smiled.

Just then Kelsey walked in. "Hey everyone, glad to see you're all alive," she said. Apparently she and Caleb had worked out whatever it was that they had been arguing about yesterday.

"Guess what Aunt Kelsey? I'm a wolf!" Ivy grinned.

"Me too!" Declan shouted.

"Well, you've found your best friend then, haven't you? Caleb knows all about wolves," Kelsey said.

Ivy nodded enthusiastically and bounded toward the door. "Come on, Caleb!"

Kelsey chuckled. "Looks like someone got in trouble again! Have fun!"

"I think I'll go with them," Shelby said, getting up.

"Caleb! Make sure they don't get eaten!" Kelsey called after them.

"Eaten by what?" I asked.

Kelsey seemed a little surprised by the question and thought for a second. "Wolves. There are a lot of wolves in these parts," she finally said.

"Huge wolves. Like the size of full grown bears wolves," Claire added. "The rangers think they're a giant offshoot breed of regular wolves."

"And it's safe to let the kids play outside?" I asked. I'd been here numerous times in my childhood and couldn't remember ever seeing a wolf, much less a huge one, although something did seem familiar about it.

"Oh, yeah, the wolves don't usually go near people, especially on the res where there's more woods. I wouldn't worry about it, especially with Caleb around," Kelsey said.

"Hey Abby, Leah, Kelsey, Ellie, Ava, and I are all going to lunch in about an hour. You want to come? The guys claim they're gonna watch the kids and start dinner if we were out that late, but Sue said she'd make sure they did," Claire asked.

"Sure, sounds like fun," I said.

About half an hour later we were all piling into Ellie's car because even though Kelsey's car also seated eight, Ellie insisted on driving. We went to pick up Ava, but she lived in a huge house the middle of nowhere, so it took a little while. I wondered how she got there because there were no cars in the driveway.

"Oh, yeah, they're in the garage," she said when I asked her. She was sitting in the back row of seats with me, so no one was really listening.

"They?"

"Yeah, my siblings like cars. A lot. A little too much if you ask me. They're Jacob's favorite customers. Alice and Edward actually came up too. Alice is the hot pink Porsche and Edward is the dark blue Volvo. We might run into them in town today."

"Oh, wow," I whispered under my breath. I personally just wanted to see what a hot pink Porsche would look like.

"Alice is really good at the stock market. Like, really, really good, and Carlisle is a doctor so..."

"Oh, really? My dad is the chief of surgery at Greenville Central Hospital. You said you were from North Dakota, maybe they know each other?" I asked. I was still trying to figure out where I knew her from. She wasn't just some image of my mother I had built up in my mind, I had met her before, but not a younger version of her, she looked the same in my memory.

"Probably not, he's actually doing some work in South America right now, and the rest of my family is kind of dispersed since most of us are in college right now." I could see the faintest hint of a smile on her face. "So tell me more about your dad...I think I remember him," she chuckled.

I blushed. "Sorry about him, he thinks you look like my mother," I said quietly. "She, um, died giving birth to me."

Kelsey whipped around. Sometimes it was scary how fast she could move and how even when I thought she couldn't hear me she could. She seemed rather upset. "That is not true. She gave birth, then died several hours afterward due to complications that had nothing to do with you."

Oh. Right. That. Kelsey hated it if I tried to condense the story because for most of my life I did believe that and even now I wasn't sure. I mean, if she hadn't been in labor with me they wouldn't have been in the car and the car wouldn't have crashed and there wouldn't have been any complications.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ava said softly.

We were almost at the restaurant. I looked out the window and saw a hot pink Porsche in the parking lot. "Hey, is that your sister?" I asked, pointing out the car, as if it needed pointing out.

Ava covered her face with her hand. "Yes," she mumbled.

A girl even shorter than Claire gracefully got out of the car. She had really short spiky hair, a little darker than Ava's and she was also very pale like Ava, and they had the same eyes. She waved enthusiastically to our SUV.

"Alice, if I knew you were coming you could have ridden with us," Ellie said.

"Hmm...thanks for the offer, but I wanted to see how my baby ran after having to leave her for..." she glanced over at Ava, Ava mouthed something, but I didn't catch it, I never could read lips, "the semester," she finished.

Alice passed up on joining us for lunch, but said she'd be near by if we wanted to go shopping later, affectionately calling me "a new Barbie".

"Don't worry, if she can pick out clothes for you and force you to try them on then she calls you a Barbie, it has nothing to do with your hair," Ava whispered.

Once we were in the restaurant, I watched the waiters all shamelessly flirt with Ava and Leah, but both rolled their eyes. "So Abby, what do you do?" Ava asked.

"I teach second grade," I said.

Everybody awwed; they always awwed! None of the other teachers at my school got awwed when they told people they taught elementary school! Of course, most of them had kids in high school or college.

So we had lunch, except for Ava who claimed she slept late and that her brother Edward had made a very large, very tempting breakfast right before Ellie called. We did a lot of talking about people and things I either knew or had heard of, but sometimes they seemed to be talking in some sort of code and I had no idea what they were talking about. Of course, I was used to it, this happened almost every time Kelsey brought me up. It was like there was some big secret I didn't know about, but Kelsey told me it was just tribal stuff and that as silly as it was I'd either have to be Quileute myself, or marry into it like Ellie, for her to tell me about it, and that it wasn't really anything interesting.

I talked to Ava a lot, she was so nice, and even though she was younger than me, she had a sort of motherly air about her. I never could figure out where I knew her from, but she asked about Dad and Luke and Ivy a lot, so I was guessing I had met her somewhere at home.

Afterward, Kelsey, Leah, and Ellie wanted to go home, so they left. We met Alice up in Port Angeles and shopped. I realized why Alice called everyone a Barbie. The rest of us hardly got to leave the dressing rooms due to Alice running around at seemingly super human speeds and asking us to try stuff on. Still, it was fun, and I got some really cute shoes out of it.

"It was nice seeing you guys again, maybe we could do something else later?" Ava asked as we pulled up to the Black's house.

"Yeah, totally," I said. I still didn't know where I knew her from, but something about her just made me so comfortable, and yet something else made me a little uneasy. It was probably her and Alice's cold, pale, skin, haunting golden eyes, and gracefulness (I had proved to be the clumsiest one there by walking into a light pole because I wasn't paying attention). It was intriguing. What was so different about her? When we walked in, half of the conversation dropped to whispers, it seemed that always happened to me these days. Scratch that. What was so different about here?

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**Hey! Well, I have to thank Megan and Shelby (the people, not the characters) as always for being my beta readers and giving me all sorts of help and ideas, read their stories! (ravenclawblonde1428 and twilight-chick-92). Now, I've tried to avoid saying this, but please read and review. Thank you!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I only wish I owned Twilight :(**

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Chapter 6.

Megan's POV

A motel. Again. My favorite. Oh, well, I thought to myself, if that's what it takes. I _would_ get my revenge, no matter how long it took. Now that I tracked down the Quileute girl and her little blonde sister all I'd have to do is get them alone. The girl wasn't a girl anymore. She had stopped phasing to have a family. How foolish, but it made it easier for me. Now there was no escape for them. They could run, but they couldn't hide forever. I took the rusted key and forced my room's door open. It took me no effort, but it would probably leave the average human panting.

I threw my suitcase on the floor and flopped on the bed. I could have gone looking for them, staked out the territory, made some plans and strategies, but it was late in the night, they would probably be most suspicious for a night attack, and it would be very difficult to break into the house steal them without the entire pack of mongrels finding out. The ceiling fan rotated slowly at fifteen rotations a minute and I thought about how I even got there.

My last memories as human were fuzzy at best. A razor, lots of blood, a note for my mother, and a picture of my father who had done the same thing just three months before. I was convinced he had done it because of my change. Much like the wolves around these parts the Cherokee people I descended from could Shapeshift into mountain lions, and a passing coven of vampires had caused the change in me. At that point I couldn't take life anymore, I just wanted it to end. But Henry saved me. He was attracted to the scent of my blood. He had just eaten and wondered what it would be like to have a companion, he was lonely, just like I was now.

He helped me go through the pain, adjust to my new body, and control my thirst enough to be in society without killing anyone, only when I was hungry, and only the disposable. Homeless people, druggies, gang members, occasionally a lost hiker, people that would be expected to turn up dead. Henry liked a challenge, so sometimes he would compete with me, but it was all in good fun. We'd go after the same person, see who could find dinner faster, stuff like that. Somehow, through all the hurting and hunting, losing and learning, night spent up talking and days spent on the run, we fell in love.

It was good for a while, several years in fact, but then Henry became bored with the games. He wanted more of a thrill. Then we met James and Victoria. James was an extraordinary tracker. He liked to pick out a target, then wait, sometimes a week, sometimes a month, sometimes even a year, and haunt them, spook them, before he finally killed them. Henry took a liking to this and would often join James. Finally though, they got in a fight over where we were going next, France or the southern United States, and we parted ways.

In the south, we met Mason and Lilly, two gifted vampires who had also been moving around. Lilly and I became very close, but Henry remained unsatisfied. We continued to travel, we even went to France, Henry claimed it was to see the sights, but I knew he was looking for James, seeking his thrill again. We finally came back to the eastern US, and it was there we first heard of the Shapeshifters. Natives of the northwestern US, that could change into the form of a wolf. They weren't the only match for a vampire; we had run into a few of my kind before, but Henry was curious, so we hung around for a little while, studied up on them, and then headed off towards Washington to actually see one.

It turned out we didn't even need to go that far. By the time we hit North Dakota Henry thought he'd hit the scent of one. He went to investigate and came back a couple hours later. He told us about the wolf he saw, much larger than normal wolves and with a much worse smell, even in human form, and able to tear us apart. He was obsessed with how to defeat them, how to get his prize, the little girl who had been with the Shapeshifter. He even gave them the head start of a few days, gambling far too much on Mason and Lilly's powers.

He was no longer the man I loved, but instead a monster, a hunting dog, and it was the Shapeshifter and the girl who made him that way! Not only was there a whole pack of Shapeshifters waiting for us when we got there, but most of the Cullen clan. At this point, Henry had become so obsessed with his target, he took them on anyway. I helped him fight of course, hoping that if he got this, he would come back to me, but no, instead he was killed. When I saw Mason, and even Lilly giving into the enemy I ran. The pack caught up with me and warned me, but what was their warning to me? I dyed my hair back to it's natural black color in mourning and waited. They would forget, stop phasing, die, but I would never forget, for as long as I existed I wouldn't have my Henry.

But then there was that Caleb boy, the Shapeshifter. He had seemed to take interest in me despite that I was his mortal enemy. I wasn't sure what to make of him. He wasn't like the others. His smell wasn't as bad and there was just something about him that drew me in. I had to admit he was handsome for one of them, he had the same wicked grin and sense of adventure that my Henry did, but there also seemed to be a loyal, loving, cuddly side to him I'd only seen a few times in Henry. I whispered his name to test it on my lips, see if there was a tingle down my back like there used to be for Henry,

As the saying goes, speak of the devil and he will appear, there was knock on my motel room door. "Megan! It's me!" he called.

I opened the door. It was morning already.

Caleb tackled me to the bed and started to kiss me passionately. This was surprising considering the last time I saw him he was hesitant to peck my cheek. "Megan...tell me it's not true," he said between kisses.

"What the hell Caleb?!?" I pushed him off me. "What? Tell you what's not true?" I asked.

"That you want to kill her. That you want to kill my aunt," he said, fear flooding his eyes.

"Actually I was planning on killing both your aunt and your mother..." I started.

"WHAT?!? WHY?!?" he howled, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Caleb, man up! Really!"

"If that's what you want..." he said, wiping his cheek.

"Caleb! What is _wrong_ with you?" I shouted, shoving him against the wall.

"Megan I can't help myself! I'm in love with you!"

I felt my draw drop. "Oooookay...if this is some sort of plot it isn't going to work...it's very clever, and flattering, but not going to work."

"It's not a trick Megan! I imprinted on you! The first time I saw you after my Shapeshifter genes kicked in I fell for you."

"Get real Caleb! I've know Shapeshifters, I've even been a shapeshifter before, I bet you've never even heard of the Cherokee mountain lions! There is no such thing as 'imprinting'." It was somewhat true, there was nothing like that for us at least, maybe since wolves are pack animals they might have something like that, but we were meant to be alone.

"Megan, I'm begging you! I don't want to see my family hurt, I love them too much, but I love you more, and there's nothing I can do if you decide to go through with it, so please just give it up! Do it for me," he pleaded. He looked so pitiful.

"Do you know what they did to me, Caleb? Do you know how much they hurt me?"

"No Megan, I can't imagine how much they hurt you and I'm sorry they did, it was just out of self defense! It was years ago! Why can't you just forget about it!"

"They killed him! They killed my husband!" shrieked. I felt a convulsion take me over, I grabbed the back of the chair, nearly breaking it in two. I hadn't felt this way in years, not even right after Henry's death and my friend's betrayal did I feel this angry. I never thought I would be able to change after I became a vampire, but just from the feeling I was getting now, I knew that something that had been blocked was now open. I could change whenever I wanted. But why would I waste that on him? He wasn't anything to me. "Those bastards and bitches killed my husband and I will never forget it," I seethed.

Caleb stared and it was quiet for a moment. "Maybe if we ran away. Just you and me Megan, we could make a fresh start. Let me help you forget!"

Oh! Now he wasn't just trying to stop me! He was trying to take Henry's place! "Just...just get out!" I shouted. I could feel myself beginning to cry, or the equivalent of it.

Caleb sighed and touched my cheek softly, his hand was burning hot. "If that's what you want." He got up and left.

I collapsed back on the bed, but before I even got a chance to sigh the door flew open again. I was pinned to the bed, not by Caleb, but by another vampire, I looked up and recognized her as one of the Cullen clan's. I hissed and she growled, throwing me up against the wall.

"I don't know what he said to you and I don't care, but I don't appreciate how you treat my grandson when he loves you so much. But to my main point, rest assured that if you harm even one hair on either of those girls' heads then I will hunt you down, and I will kill you, no matter what the cost. Is that clear?"

I glared defiantly.

"IS THAT CLEAR!?!" she screeched, slamming me against the wall again. I nodded. "Good," she said, tossing me to the floor and stalking out.

That settled it. I was going into the town right now, snatching the two from their house, and killing them off now. I could easily make it look like an accident or a suicide, it was one of my specialties, as we traveled we couldn't have the humans tracking us like serial killes now could we? Usually I just pumped a bullet or two into them or cut them up some, made it look like gang work.

I needed to hurry to make it before Caleb and the woman got back to the house, but then I thought of something. I undressed, being a vampire on the move I didn't have that many sets of clothes so I couldn't ruin these, then I let myself feel the anger again. The convulsion took me this time and I felt the floor drop under me. Suddenly I was on all fours, graceful, elegant, catlike, as if that were anything new.

I tried out my new body, running circles around the motel room. It felt good, so I pulled the door open with my paw and ran out, scaring a few guests on my way. I knew my way, I'd plotted it several times before. Making it in about thirty minutes running, I finally settled in a high branch overlooking the Black's front yard and waited. Either the mother or the aunt would have to come out sometime. A shiny, midnight blue volvo with tinted windows pulled up in the driveway. The dark haired vampire came out of the drivers side. I couldn't help but let out a snarl at her. My attention was taken from the passenger side by the opening of the front door.

Caleb's mother, Kelsey was it? ran out the door and embraced her son. Her son. Caleb. My Caleb. A sudden sweep of emotion for him overtook me. As much as I had tried to fight it off, as much as I told myself he was the enemy, I had always known it, and now, in my most primal form, there was no way of stopping it. I was in love with him.

This didn't make sense though! I hadn't heard of this in the research I had had to do after my first transformation. Cats were solitary animals, meant to roam alone. Tigers, pumas, panthers, even house cats, none of these lived in packs, but I guess they had to mate somehow.

I looked back at his mother. I really, really, wanted to kill her, but I knew I couldn't because it would hurt Caleb. My love easily defeated my urges for revenge, but I knew we wouldn't be best friends anytime soon, especially on her half. Poor Caleb, she would kill him when she found out (which she obviously hadn't). Oh well, if she was going to disown him anyway I could make her hurt. His aunt was still open to me. I knew how it felt to lose a parent, but an aunt, that was something different. I'd feel bad for her child, yes, but someone had to pay.

From there, I did the only thing I could think to do. I jumped down from the tree and raced back to the motel. "Caleb, I'm srry. Plz come back." I texted him. Hopefully he'd respond this time. He hadn't replied to my many texts before, but that was before I loved him. That was when I was just after his family. I knew that people couldn't get tone of voice and facial expressions out of text messages, but hopefully he could feel my sincerity.

An hour later he burst through the door. "Megan what is it?" he asked, an uncertainty in his expression.

I looked at him, finally up close. I saw everything I had pushed to the side before, his chocolate brown eyes, his dimples, his loyalty, love, and sense of humor, and most recently his hurting heart, the worry etched into his expression, the confusion on his face as he walked into the door. I touched his face and the confusion increased. I chuckled at this. He didn't know yet. "Remember when I told you that imprinting didn't exist?"

He nodded.

"I was wrong."

"I know," he said, not one bit of confusion leaving his face. I'd have to try and be clearer.

"Even though I'm a vampire, somehow, I can still change into a mountain lion. I guess it's my special power."

He stared.

"Mountain lions are generally solitary creatures, so no one told me this, but we can imprint, and guess who I imprinted on?"

He grinned and wrapped his arms around me.

"Oh, Caleb," I sighed, my spine tingled.

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**Ooooh! How will this change things? I thank my friend Megan for this last minute idea. I also thank my cousin Shelby for other ideas and reading this about 4798347593 times before I posted it. Read and Review please!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Edward, Seth, the Cullen's house, and First beach at La Push but that's really about all I don't own in this chapter**

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Chapter 7.

Collin's POV

"We're going to the beach!" Shelby called, racing outside after Channing. Sometimes it seemed like those two were attached at the hip.

"Mommy, can I go too?" Ivy asked.

"Only if you put on your jacket," Abby said.

Ivy ran back to our room to get it. It took a while, but finally she came sprinting back out. "Okay, okay, I'm ready! Come on! They're gonna leave us." She grabbed my hand and started pulling me along.

"Baby, I think they already did," Abby laughed.

"Well then what are we waiting for!" she said, starting to tug on Abby's hand as well.

"We're going, we're going!" I said, picking her up and swinging her over my shoulder. She squealed in delight.

We walked out the door, but the others were out of sight. "Do you know the way?" I asked Abby. We had been with Billy and Leah a few times before, but I never could remember the way, we had to go through a lot of forest, I knew that.

"Um, I think so. I'm pretty sure we go that way," she said, stepping into a section of woods. There was a worn path, just like the one that went to the beach, but I didn't exactly recognize it, of course, I didn't recognize much around here, even in the way of people. I still had no clue why Kelsey brought us here, but it was alright, we were having a good time, Seth's family was nice; huge, but nice. I wondered how long we'd be up here, Christmas was only a few days away.

"Maybe not," Abby shrugged. We had already been walking for about twenty minutes and there wasn't anything suggesting a beach in sight, even the air didn't smell salty. That girl could be such an airhead sometimes, a literal dumb blonde. She may look like me, but she was her mother reincarnate in terms of personality.

"You mean we walked all this way for nothing?" Ivy complained.

"I guess so, sorry babe," Abby said, tousling Ivy's hair.

Ivy shrugged and started running in the other direction.

"Stay where I can see you!" Abby called after her, but that wasn't an issue as Ivy came running back screaming as soon as she rounded the turn.

"What's wrong baby?" Abby asked, picking Ivy up.

"L..l...l…" but she didn't need to finish the word.

A low growl erupted from the trees as a mountain lion stalked up the path.

Abby stumbled back into me and I wrapped my arms around her. I didn't need her running off and getting chased by something much faster than her. I racked my mind of what to do. I knew I read this somewhere. Finally I remembered, I read about it in a magazine.

"Abby, put Ivy on your shoulders, both of you unzip your jackets, try to make yourselves look as big as possible." I demonstrated by unzipping my own coat and pulling it open as wide as possible. It was cold, but better than getting eaten. Unfortunately, the mountain lion was not impressed. In fact, it seemed to be snickering at us as it approached. Despite the fact that we were backing away it got closer and closer; twenty, fifteen, ten, five feet away. I stepped in front of Abby and Ivy.

Suddenly there was a howl in the background. A lone wolf came running up towards the mountain lion. The cat snarled. As the copper colored wolf got close, the mountain lion finally lost its courage and bolted into the woods. The wolf went running after it, totally ignoring us. We could hear them run off into the horizon. For a while we just stood there in shock, finally letting our jackets fall around us, then Abby took Ivy down from her shoulders, but kept holding her, and Ivy wasn't about to be let go of. We'd need to get going soon, it wouldn't be good to be here when the lion got back, but I didn't know which way was home anymore.

"Are you all okay?" a voice asked from behind us.

I spun around to see a young man, about seventeen or eighteen with reddish brown hair and pale skin, very similar to Ava's, standing behind us.

"We just saw a mountain lion…"

"Saw!?! We were nearly killed!" Abby exclaimed.

"Oh, yes, mountain lions are somewhat common in this area. Not as common as the wolves, but a little more aggressive as you saw," the young man said smoothly, it was oddly very soothing. "My name is Edward Cullen," he said, extending his hand.

"You must be Ava's brother!" Abby smiled.

"Collin, Collin Jacobs," I said, taking his hand, it was cold; he must have been outside for a while.

"I'm Abby Cunningham, and this is my daughter Ivy."

Edward nodded. "Ava's told me about you. It's nice to make your acquaintance. May I invite you to our house? I'm sure your family would be worried if they knew about your…encounter."

"Sure, that sounds great, thank you so much!" Abby smiled.

I still wasn't so sure, but Edward seemed like a decent young man.

We walked a short way through the woods and came up to a huge house.

"Please, have a seat," Edward said as we walked through the door. "Is there anything I can get you?"

"No, we're fine," I said warily. This was slightly suspicious, how many teenagers were this polite? It was slightly creepy, like he was from a different era or something.

Edward smiled, "Alright, well, I'll tell Ava you're here, I'm sure she'll be very glad to see you."

There were a few minutes when we were there alone. I looked around the house. Everything was white, making the already huge room look even larger.

"Hi you guys! I totally wasn't expecting anybody! I'm a mess!" Ava grinned sheepishly.

Was she kidding? She looked gorgeous! She was possibly the fourth most beautiful woman I'd ever seen (Rosalie, Abby, and Kelsey took spots 1-3 of course). It probably helped that, aside from the pale skin and almost yellow looking eyes, she could have been Rosalie's clone, which of course, made me stare. Especially in the early days, I missed Rosalie so badly that I'd stare at anyone who looked remotely like her, not even knowing what I thought would happen, but no one even came close in similarity compared to Ava.

Just then I realized I was staring again. "Uh…um…did you decorate this yourself?" I asked, just using the first thing that came to my mind. I realized how stupid it sounded when I said it.

Ava laughed. "Goodness no! Esme and Alice and probably Rose did it, it was like this when I got here."

"Are they your sisters?"

"Well, Esme and Carlisle are sort of foster parents to the seven of us, but we're all starting to leave the nest now, I'm the oldest, it's fine though, they're still young enough to have kids of their own if they wanted."

I smiled and nodded. I knew what it was like to have a foster child, but I couldn't imagine seven!

"Mommy I've got to go potty!" Ivy whispered. Since the attack she had been clinging to Abby.

"It's up the hall, second door to the left," Ava said.

"Thanks," Abby smiled, getting up, trying to detach Ivy from her.

"Kelsey should be here soon; I called her when Edward told me about your encounter. So much fun," Ava chuckled.

"Oh, yes," I said sarcastically, "tons of fun. But really, it was kind of scary, I mean, before that wolf came, I wasn't sure what would happen; I was afraid someone would get hurt."

Ava smiled softly, almost sadly. "You know, you're a really good dad. It probably sounds weird coming from me, but your girls love you a lot. I'd love to have seen you when they were younger."

"Well…well thank you," I blushed. The compliment seemed whole hearted, but there also seemed to be something hidden in there, some cryptic message.

Ava continued to have a little smile on her face. She moved from her chair to the couch, right beside me, and a little close for my comfort. I scooted over a little to put some space between us. I wasn't sure if she realized that it looked like she was flirting, even though she surely couldn't be. She looked to be in her twenties and I was in my fifties! Still, I felt like a perverted old man even thinking of her behavior as flirtatious.

I was very relieved when Abby and Ivy came back. Once they were back Ava began to act normally again and I started to figure it was all in my head.

Finally Kelsey got there. She greeted us with huge hugs and worried babbling. Of course, this was nothing new; it seemed Kelsey was always worrying about something. Even when I first met her when she was eleven years old she was always concerned about something, though then it was usually about being sent back into the foster care system. I guessed that it was the fact that she had spent most of her childhood in the foster care system that caused this need to try and prepare for and overanalyze things, knowing that basically no one was going to worry about her wellbeing but her.

She seemed especially concerned about Abby and I couldn't help but laugh as she fussed over Abby like a mother hen. I noticed Ava giggling too. It was then that my body reacted to her in the most embarrassing way. Blood rushed to my face (as well as other places if you get my drift) and I muttered some excuse about going to the bathroom as I got up and practically ran out of the room. I knew why it had happened of course, I could remember many a time that Rosalie had giggled exactly like that. Still even if she looked and sounded like Rosalie, I hadn't expected this. I stayed in the bathroom for a while, waiting until I was back to normal.

It was a relief when I was able to come out, but then there she was again, right outside the bathroom, and it happened all over again. I was just about to go back into the bathroom when I felt her touch my shoulder.

"No, it's okay, I want to see you privately," she said, leading me to a room that was obviously hers. The weird thing though, was that there wasn't a bed, although that made me feel a little better. She sighed.

"Look, I'm really sorry if it seems like I'm staring or flirting or…erm yeah…it's just…this sounds so stupid. You look a lot like my late wife," I explained.

Ava's expression softened. "Oh, yeah, Abby was telling me about that. It's fine. Um…I was just wondering if…again, sounding weird…If you were still single? I'm just curious."

"Yes, I dated a couple of times, but it just never worked out. Sometimes I don't think I'll be able to feel that way about anyone again really."

"Oh, that's too bad. You would have made a good catch. But on the other hand, it does make this a lot easier…" she then went in to kiss me.

I tried to stop her, but she was too fast for me. It was a sweet, gentle kiss, yet one of passion and intensity. She seemed to be really enjoying it. Finally I was able to push her away. She seemed startled by what she'd done.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she gasped. She covered her face and ran out of the room, but I saw the expression on it. It was a combination of heartbreak and horror, distress and desire. It was the strangest thing I'd ever encountered. I was still in shock over her kissing me. Why on earth would any twenty something year old want to waste her time with a fifty something year old man she barely knew? Did she have some sort of psychological problem?

I shook my head and got up, numbly walking out of the room. Abby, Ivy, and Seth were all in the living room, but Kelsey and Ava were nowhere to be found.

"Um, Kelsey said she'd catch up with us later if you ant to head back," Seth said nervously.

"Yeah, that would be good," I said. I wanted to get as far away from Ava as possible, at least until I could think this over. She was perhaps the most psychotic, insane, perverted girl I had ever met, but I couldn't help but think there was something else behind her golden eyes.

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**Hey readers! I'd like to thank you for all your reviews, I really really really appreciate them! Hope you liked the chapter! I promise I will do more with them later! As always I'd like to thank Megan and Shelby for their constant help and support :). Thanks for reading, I'll try and get the next chapter written as fast as I can!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yay! It's Christmas in April! Okay so here's the chapter, it's mostly fluff until the end...enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 8.

(Abby's POV)

It had been snowing for three days now. From the comforts of the warm cozy house the snow was gorgeous. This year we had gotten a white Christmas. I smiled at the thought. It would be Ivy's first white Christmas, as well as her last as an only child. I put my hand on my stomach. I was just starting to show; luckily I could still fit into my normal clothes, but it wouldn't be much longer until I would have to transfer to my maternity clothes. If the baby was a boy we would name him Wesley, which is what we would have named Ivy had she been a boy, and if it was another girl we would likely name her Rose. Yes, Kelsey had already used it as Shelby's middle name, but no one would mind.

I felt Luke's strong arms wrap around me and his warm lips press against my neck. "Merry Christmas babe," he whispered.

I giggled. His fingers tickled.

"Shhh, if we wake up Ivy the results will be loud and we will have to detain her until a more decent hour, and if we wake up your dad he will most likely kill me."

"No he wouldn't!" I laughed, hitting his chest lightly.

Suddenly something cold fell on top of me.

"It's Christmas Mommy!" Ivy nearly shouted.

"Shhh…Grandad is still sleeping."

"Why?" she asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world to get up at seven forty-five in the morning on Christmas.

"Because some people like their sleep!" Luke said, picking her up and holding her over us.

She giggled in glee. "Oh, right! Shhh…" she whispered, trying to hold back her giggles. Luke put her down and she crawled in between us. "Merry Christmas baby," she said, kissing my stomach. Ivy had taken to the idea of a sibling very well. We'd see how well they got along once she realized a baby brother or sister meant a wailing infant that took up lots of Mommy and Daddy's attention, but for now, it was all sweet words and kisses.

We stayed under the warm covers for a while, to wait out the rest of the time until the rest of the house got up, but that wasn't long. Soon the alluring scent of bacon, ham, eggs, toast, and other delicious breakfast foods filled the house. Two things I knew as facts about the Black family. One, they always had a full house, even if it wasn't a holiday family and friends would always gather there, and two, they always had enough delicious food to feed a small country for every meal, and somehow it all got eaten.

There was a knock at the door and Ivy bounded out of the bed. Being here had helped her a lot with her shyness. She no longer hid from everyone, but often joined in on the other kids' antics, accompanied by Declan, who, although was mischievous and fond of pulling pranks, was sweet and more than willing to take Ivy under his wing.

"Merry Christmas everyone!" Kelsey grinned. She saw that Dad was still sleeping, she sat down on one side of the pull out couch he was sleeping on and ran her fingers through his hair. He hated that.

"Mmmm...Ava! Stop!" he mumbled, knocking away Kelsey's hand.

For some reason Kelsey burst out laughing at this which finally did wake him up.

"Oh! Oh! Did I sleep talk? Oops! Um, well I was having a very strange dream..." Dad stammered realizing what he had said.

Kelsey continued to laugh. "I think it was something we ate last night, I had weird dreams too." At this she became more solemn. It was quiet for a while.

"Well, are either of you going to tell us what you dreamt?" Luke finally asked, breaking the silence.

Both Kelsey and Dad shook their heads. "No, I'd rather not," Kelsey said quickly. That was strange, but they had both been acting strange lately. I figured Dad was just shaken up from the mountain lion attack, but Kelsey had been extra observant and protective, especially of me, since we came up here, and I tried not to let it get on my nerves, I knew she meant well, but it could be annoying sometimes. I made a mental note to myself to figure out what was going on with the both of them.

"Okay, well I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to get some of that delicious food out there!" Luke said, climbing out of bed.

Ivy squealed and ran out the door once again.

Coming out I was surprised to see everyone in their pajamas, even the people who came by to visit.

"It's a big tradition on the res. Everyone wears their pajamas all morning on Christmas and it's supposed to be like we all live in the same house," Seth explained.

"Like it isn't like we all live in the same house already?" I joked. The Black house was always always always crowded and you had to get up at about five in the morning to see it not so.

"Oh, come on Aunt Abby, get in the Christmas spirit!" Caleb grinned taking...a second helping? The kids here ate so fast!

"Here, I made sure to get you some food before they ate it all!" Luke said handing me a full plate.

"I really don't need all this..." I started.

"Nonsense! You're eating for two!" Luke said kissing my cheek and sneaking in a touch of my stomach. That was his favorite thing to do now. He was convinced it was going to kick sometime soon.

"More like one and one sixteenth or something..."

"If you don't finish I'll eat what's left!" Channing teased. Again with the appetite!

"I feed them! I promise!" Ellie called from across the room where she was cuddling romantically with Jacob.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight..." Kelsey said sarcastically.

"Like you feed your son!" Jacob said, coming to Ellie's defense.

"Nope, not while I'm up here!"

"Yes, enjoy my mother's cooking while you can. Once we get home you'll have to cook all by yourself again," Seth said, pecking her on the lips.

"Hey! That's cheating! You're supposed to have mistletoe!" Jacob complained. He then pulled a sprig of mistletoe from his pocket, held it over Ellie, and proceeded to kiss her passionately. All the children were embarrassed considering most them were Ellie and Jacob's.

After that we opened family presents. Luke and I had told Ivy that Santa left her presents at our house so that she would have two surprises instead of one. She liked that idea. Kelsey had told the same thing to Shelby even though they were unsure about her belief in Santa. The other kids had also had Christmas at their houses, so it worked well and no one threw a fit. No, I'm understating. It was great, the air was filled with joy and Christmas cheer. The house was warm and cozy, I had all of my loved ones with me; what more could I have asked for?

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Caleb's POV

I sprinted down the road. It was Christmas and I had just spent the morning with my family. Now basically everyone except Grandad was going to the Cullen's. I had told my mom that I had wanted to play football with some of the guys, and she had believed me.

Suddenly the scent of vampire filled the air and I saw a white figure fly past me. I came to a stop and watched in slight horror as I watched Ava, quickly followed by Alice and Edward, each feeding on a member of a herd of deer. I felt bad for the deer, but kept my composure, knowing it was better to let them eat the deer than get in a fight, and better for them to eat the deer than people.

"Oh! Hey Caleb! What's up? Are you coming over later?" Ava asked, wiping the blood off her lips, her eyes fading from a dark brown to an almost butterscotch color.

"Um...I don't think so...I was just heading up to see Megan," I said keeping my voice low. I didn't know how the other vampires would feel if they knew I was romantically involved with "the enemy".

"Really, Caleb?" Ava rolled her eyes. "Couldn't you have just imprinted on a nice Quileute girl, or even a vampire that _isn't_ after your mom and aunt?"

"Ava, you said yourself that a person can't help who they imprint on," I shrugged.

"But why Megan?" Ava sighed. "Quil imprinted on a normal girl, Reese imprinted on a normal girl, Channing imprinted on a normal girl…"

"Who'd Channing imprint on?" I asked. I had seen Quil with Claire and Reese with Leah, but the only people Channing ever seemed to hang around were Koda and…

"Shelby," Ava finished my thought.

"Really?" I didn't know what to think about that. Channing was a nice enough guy, and if he cared about Shelby as much as I cared about Megan that was fine, but my protective older brother instincts were kicking in and I wasn't too sure if I liked it. Finally I decided that since it was Christmas I wouldn't kill him, but one false move and I would have to teach that guy a lesson.

"Yeah, it was forever ago. Only a few months after Channing turned."

I sighed.

"It helps if you don't think about it a lot. I know I wanted to kill your dad after he and your mom imprinted on each other. It wasn't that I wasn't happy for them, but it was just so weird you know? For her to be that committed, that young, and Shelby's even younger isn't she?"

"She's ten," I said, but I was thinking. Ava's statement meant my mom had known Ava longer than I had thought. She had to have known her before she became a wolf, but how?

"How did you and my mom meet?" I asked.

Ava looked confused for a second, but then she just looked uncomfortable. "Uh, how about you ask your mom?" she said nervously, "I've got to go. The others already left and your mom is coming soon. Sorry. Bye!" Then she bolted into the forest. I thought about chasing her, but that would take away more time from what I had already lost. Time I could be with Megan.

I finished my run, finally running up to her motel room.

"Caleb!" she exclaimed, running into my arms.

"Merry Christmas babe," I said, kissing her gently on the lips. She came back with something much stronger. "Woah! A little slower please! From what I hear we have forever," I laughed.

Forever, I had never ever ever before thought that I would live forever. It was just crazy to think; it made my stomach twist and turn and do crazy things. Forever, in some ways it was scary, like how I was going to outlive everyone I loved, how I was never going to get to have kids, how I'd have to live a life of vague obscurity so no one would notice I didn't age, but I would be with Megan, maybe I would make friends with some of the vampires, or even some of the wolves who were planning on living forever, maybe I could convince Megan to go vegetarian and form our own coven.

She lead me into the motel room which she had decorated a little bit, one of those six inch tall trees already set up with lights and ornaments. It reminded me of what we did at home in Christmases past, decorating the tree as a family, and when Shelby and I were young enough, and Shelby still was, Dad would lift us both up and we would both put a star on the top of the tree. I smiled and sighed.

"Our first Christmas together," Megan said softly.

"Megan, I have something for you," I said.

"Oh Caleb! You didn't have to!" she exclaimed.

I took the little blue box out of my pocket. It was really just the box I kept my class ring in, but it would do. I got down on one knee and Megan gasped. I couldn't help but laugh at her as I opened the box, but there was no ring. Megan's look went from shock to confusion.

"You really didn't think I could afford a ring that could even come close your beauty right now?" I laughed.

"Uh, no, but I kind of wasn't expecting an empty box."

"Oh, but this isn't just an empty box, it's a promise, see, look, there's a note inside."

She took out my note and read it. It mainly explained how I was undeniably, inexplicably in love with her and how I was so looking forward to spending the rest of forever together.

"Caleb," she said, her voice breaking a little. I grinned. I touched her enough to make her cry, I hadn't anticipated that. "Caleb, I don't know what to say."

"Say yes?" I hinted.

"You know I want to, but...I still have feelings for him. I still miss him, and I don't want it to affect us."

Oh. Him. Henry. The source of all our problems. I couldn't see what she saw in him over me. "Megan, it doesn't matter about it. It's over and done, someone else has come along. It's time to move on," I said gently; it was a touchy subject with her.

"Caleb, it's not that simple," she fretted. "Yes, I love you, but I'm still hurting over Henry. I don't want you to have to hurt more than necessary."

"What does that mean?" All sorts of things flew through my mind.

"Well, I'm just saying, it might take you awhile to feel the same after I..." she said slowly.

"Woah! No way! I thought you had given that up after you imprinted on me!"

"Was it not enough of a clue when I came after your aunt and grandad a few days ago?"

"I...I thought you hadn't meant to...I thought you had lost control or something," I stammered.

"Caleb...surely you didn't think I attacked them of all people by _accident_?"

"Well, yes, yes I did. That's why I didn't tell the pack about it." I was willing to cover for her if she was willing to try and not kill my family. We could do this. We could make this work. I loved her and she loved me, that was all we needed, right?

"Like they didn't find out anyway. Your mother is more of an obstacle to me than any of those dogs."

I felt my jaw drop.

"It's not like I'm going to kill her! Just your aunt, that's all I'm asking."

"No! That's ridiculous! I'm not going to bargain off my family members like...I don't know, cookies to Ivy or something!"

Megan laughed at my analogy, but I was serious. I just couldn't think of anything better in my state of anger and shock.

I pounded my fist against the wall. "I'm serious!"

"Come on Caleb! It's not even like she's actually related to you! Technically she's not even your aunt!"

"So?!?!?!?! It's not like I'm related to you! It's not like you were related to Henry! And yes, she is legally my aunt thank you very much!"

"Ugh! Caleb! You don't see the point! I will never be able to be with you with a clean conscience without doing this final act for Henry!"

"And murder will clean your conscience? Are you going to wash your conscience with blood? Last time I check blood is a lousy detergent!"

Megan breathed deeply. "No," she said cooly, but there was danger in her voice. "But it is delicious. Now if you don't mind, I'm starved."

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**Oooh! What will happen next? As always I'd like to thank my special helpers Megan and Shelby! Thanks! Anyway, read and review! I'll try and update soon!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey readers! Since I forgot last time, I do own the Twilight Saga, just not the rights to it, I just borrowed things here and there to put into my own little story. Enjoy! **

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Chapter 9.

(Ava's POV)

_Tap tap tap_. I let my fingers fall on the window pane. Collin pulled back the curtains. "Oh my God!" he exclaimed, jumping back.

I couldn't help chuckling at him.

"What do you want?" he hissed, "and why can't you use the door like a normal person!"

"Just open the freaking window!"

"I'm insane, now watch her come in and kill me like some mass murderer, or worse..." he muttered in what he thought was out of my hearing. He opened up the window and I hopped in.

"What?!?" he asked, clearly irritated. I felt bad about kissing him and just wanted to apologize. He wouldn't come when we invited him over, so I knew he wouldn't answer if I came to the front door and asked for him.

"Look, I'm sorry about kissing you. It was inappropriate. It'll never happen again. I hope we can still be friends."

He looked surprised. "Oh. Well, um I guess I can try to forget about it. If we're going on the premise of you regret it and will never do it again you're a pretty good kisser. Can I ask why you kissed me? I'm pretty sure it's not because I'm the best guy you could find."

I shook my head. "It's long and complicated and I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear it, but I guess I can say that it's been a while since I've seen anyone, and I find you attractive. Not only physically but your personality too. It's like I've known you for years."

"There's something familiar about you too, and it's been a while since I've seen anyone either, but I'm not kissing you," he argued.

"I know, like I said, it was a mistake."

He softened back up. "Do you still find me attractive?" he asked.

If I could have blushed I would have. "Yes, yes, I do."

He stared at me intensely. "You know, I find you attractive too. I shouldn't though. It scares me."

"I don't mind," I said, trying to keep my composure, I wanted to scream. Tell him why I looked so familiar, why I sounded so familiar, why he was attracted to me, why hearing me giggle turned him on.

He reached over and touched my face. "Is it wrong? I have daughters older than you."

"In some ways it may be, but there's a reason for everything. There's a reason for this," I said. I had already blown just seeing him again and letting him go live a normal life. Now that he had confessed he liked me, the only way to get him to forget about me and return to a normal human existence was to make him go however far I needed to go to cause him shame for doing that with someone so much younger than him.

He surprised me while I was thinking by kissing me gently, even for a human. The warmth of his lips surprised me. I couldn't imagine being like Megan, having a Shapeshifter kissing you. That would be unbearably hot.

"I thought you said you didn't want it to happen again," I said, acting like this didn't rank among the happiest moments in my vampire existence.

"No, I said it was wrong for me to want you like that, I said you were crazy for wanting me, and I said I was willing to forget it if you wanted. But as ashamed as I am to say this, I never said I didn't like it."

"I see," I giggled as he kissed me, more strongly this time.

Suddenly he got up and went to the door. He stared at me, his blue eyes wild. "It has been so long since I have wanted anyone like this," he said slowly, putting emphasis on each word. "If you want to, you can leave. I don't want to do this if you don't want me to, but if you stay, know that I will take you."

I couldn't believe he was moving this fast. It obviously had been a while. "Can we be romantic?" I asked.

"Of course love," he smiled, shutting the door and coming back to the pullout couch. It wasn't extremely comfortable, but it was his bed, I could tell by the scent.

We went back to kissing. It felt so good. Knowing he wanted me, even if it was just me in my vampire form. I let myself melt into his arms, although since my body was much harder than a human's it took some effort.

After several minutes of just kissing Collin was panting from lack of breath, but of course, I was fine, I didn't need to breathe, so I kissed him up and down his neck, a slight challenge whenever I got close to his jugular vein, but I had just eaten and would need to be able to control myself to proceed. He finally started to run his hands up and down my waist. I cautiously pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it to the side.

I had to feign heavy breathing, seeing that no human could breathe normally under these conditions, as he finally reached under my shirt, pulling it off. Next he went for my bra and I started unbuttoning his pants. Finally we were both naked and it was almost time. I was delirious with glee. This was just like the old times. He whispered sweet nothings in my ear and kissed me anywhere his lips happened to be. I moaned for him to get on with it already, I was going to explode if he didn't. So he did.

~*~

A knock on the door caused Collin to scream.

"Is everything okay in there?" we heard Abby's voice from the other side.

"Yeah…everything's fine!" Collin called, but he was out of breath and even human ears could tell it.

The door opened slowly. Abby peeked in and the first thing she saw was us, naked on the bed, panting for breath. She shrieked and slammed the door shut. I heard footsteps running up the hall.

"What's wrong?" I heard Seth ask, his voice filled with worry.

"Oh…um…well..." Abby stuttered, unsure on what to say. "It was nothing. My dad just wasn't dressed when I opened the door, it startled me," she finally said. I thanked her silently.

"Oh God," Collin sighed, rolling off me, throwing on some pants, and getting up to lock the door. "What are we going to do?" he asked. "After all these years of trying so hard to be a good role model and I blow it in less than three seconds. What if she doesn't want anything to do with me again?"

"I'm sure she won't be that hard on you, and I'm pretty sure it's too late for something like this to ruin her. I mean, I can see the whole I'm younger than her thing being a concern, but really it's your life. It's not like this is hurting anyone," I replied. Frankly, I was just glad it was over. It wasn't his fault; it always good before, but being a vampire I had to constantly be careful not to crush him, and being a human he was far too weak to satisfy me the way I had hoped he would. Oh well, at least he liked it.

I rolled over on my stomach to make myself unavailable for another go-round.

"Hey, is that a birthmark shaped like an apple?" he asked.

"Um…no…" I started. I rolled back over to cover it up. I had to have such a specific shaped birthmark, didn't I? When I was a teenager my mother used to tease that if everything but my back was marred beyond recognition after my friends and I did something stupid then she would still be able to identify me to the police.

When I met his eyes he was staring in disbelief. He shook his head. "It…it's not possible," he stammered.

"You're right, it's not. Well, I'm going to go home now," I said quickly, getting off the bed and starting to gather my clothes off the floor.

"There it is again!" he cried, sitting straight up. "How?"

"Just forget I was even here." I kept my eyes to the floor as I hurriedly threw my clothes on, but not too quickly to set him off, as if he already wasn't.

"No, come back!" he said, getting off the bed. I could hear his breathing, his heartbeat, right behind me. His hands rested on my shoulders. He got closer, until his lips brushed my ear. The following words were less than a whisper, more like a breath he'd been breathing for thirty years. "Don't leave me again, Rosalie."

I froze. I didn't know what to do. "What makes you think I'm her?" I finally asked, pulling myself out from his grip and continuing to dress.

"You look just like her, you say the same things she would say, you find me attractive, you have an apple shaped birthmark on the bottom right side of your back, and I can't get you out of my head and my heart just knows. Two hearts that close never forget each other."

"So? If she's dead she can't be here. How do you explain that?"

"I think I have an explanation."

My mind was racing. Could he have found out? Did Kelsey finally break down and tell him? "What's that?" I finally managed.

"You're faster and stronger than you look. Your skin is as white, smooth, and hard as marble, and your body is freezing cold. Even from the little I've talked to you, you're wise beyond your years and when you look closely, there's sadness, longing, to everything you do. The answer is simple. You're a ghost."

I had to hold back a laugh. "Sure, we'll go with that," I said, with an appropriate amount of disbelief, even allowing a bemused chuckle, to show how preposterous the idea was.

"Okay, so you're not a ghost. What about a zombie?"

I actually did laugh at that one.

"Alien?" he tried, making more of a joke out of it now; I continued to laugh. "Vampire?"

I had been so busy laughing at the zombie and alien suggestions that I didn't catch myself in time to keep my reaction from him. I gasped and threw on my jacket. "No, okay, I'm not a mythical creature. I'm going home now; just leave me alone." I spun around to avoid seeing the hurt in his face.

"Please! I didn't mean to offend you! Really! I don't care, even if you are a vampire! Just don't leave me again! I missed you too much."

My still heart shattered. I felt myself fold at my main weakness. I couldn't bear to see the people I love hurt, even if it was for their own good. I stood still. Vampire still. I might have been too weak emotionally to keep him away, but I was going to let him make all the moves.

Slowly he made his way around me until we stood face to face again. He cupped my face in his hands. "I. Love. You."

"I wish that were all it took."

"Well then tell me what it takes! Tell me what to do! I've been alone for too long! All I need to know is what and how!"

I shook my head. There was nothing he could do.

He was beginning to get desperate. Like I was running away. I could hear his heart pound against his chest.

"Shhh…" I whispered, putting my hand over his heart. "I'm not going anywhere."

He wrapped his arms around me and was silent for a while. Then he spoke again. "Can you make me like you?"

"No. I don't have enough self control, and I could never put you through that."

"Why? From what I've heard it's relatively simple."

"The majority of myths about us are untrue. We don't sleep in coffins, or at all for that matter, we avoid the sunlight, but not because it will kill us. We have no aversion to wooden stakes, crosses, or silver bullets, and we really couldn't care less if you shoved garlic our faces except that that would be very annoying."

"Then what's the truth?"

I took a deep breath out of habit. Kelsey was going to kill me for this. "There are two ways to become a vampire. One, another vampire tries to drink your blood and for some reason is interrupted and must leave you, which doesn't happen that often, or a vampire chooses to change you."

From there I explained about Carlisle and the rest of our family and how we drank animal blood instead of human blood. I told him about Nessie and the Volturi and how they routinely checked up on us because our coven was getting big. I told him about blood singers and the struggle to not drink human blood to turn him away, especially about the newborn stage, but in the process of giving the downsides I couldn't help but talk about the speed, strength, and powers vampires sometimes had. I even pulled open the curtains and showed him how my skin sparkled in the sun; that was his favorite.

"So…if you won't turn me, will this Carlisle guy?" he asked as soon as I finished.

"Is it not enough for you to live a long and happy life with the rest of your family?" I asked in frustration.

"On our wedding day, I promised that I would take you to have and to hold under every condition, as long as _we both_ shall live, and I think I've missed out on a lot of that promise. I won't miss out on anymore. Rosalie Belle Hatton Jacobs, if what Edward says is true and you are going to Hell in a hand basket then I am going to Hell in a hand basket with you."

"Think outside this room Collin! Think about what it would do to Kelsey and Abby! They've already lost their mother; don't let them lose you any sooner than necessary." That shut him up for a while.

"Can't we tell them?" he asked.

"Well, Kelsey already knows, but Abby, oh Abby, I only hope she never has need to find out."

"Kelsey knows?!?" Collin exclaimed, his jaw dropping.

"Oh, yeah, I guess I didn't mention the wolves yet did I?"

"Wolves…" he repeated slowly.

"Yeah, the wolves, shape shifters, whatever you want to call them, they're the direct result of our existence in this area. You probably know more about them than you think. Those Quileute legends Caleb loves so much are true."

"That doesn't explain how Kelsey knows," he interjected.

"Kelsey, Seth, Caleb, Leah, Jacob, Koda, Britta, Channing, Kenley, all shape shifters. That's not even the beginning of the list."

He still looked bewildered.

"What is your favorite thing to guilt trip Kelsey about?"

"That one time she took Abby and left for five days. Can you believe that? Just left! For _five days_! And she was only fifteen, it wasn't even like she could drive…"

"I know, I know, I was there…think deeper. Why do you think she left?"

"I don't…ohhhhh…vampires. What happened? Kelsey won't tell me."

"That's because you're not supposed to know, but there was some vampire thing with Abby that made Kelsey turn for the first time. It was fine though. There's some revenge stuff about that now too, but everything should be fine. The pack is perfectly capable of protecting them."

"So they'll be okay?" he asked, his eyes full of concern.

A howl pierced the air. It sounded far off, but apparently Collin heard it as it made him jump.

"Well, we'll find out now. I'll be back, promise!" I pecked him on the lips. I realized how warm the Blacks kept their house as I opened up the window. "I love you."

"I love you too," I heard him say softly as I hopped out the window and ran into the forest.

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**Hello again! I definitely have the next chapter almost done, so I'll just wait an appropriate amount of time to post it *coughreviewsmayspeedupthisprocesscough*. I will continually be thanking Megan and Shelby for their help on this story as well as my readers for reading and reviewing.**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so if I waited for reviews, or even hits, I would have never updated again, so I went by when I finished the next chapter. Well, here's the disclaimer. Enjoy the chapter!**

**If I were Stephenie Meyer don't you think I would have included this in the cannon, or at least made it another book or something?**

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Chapter 10.

(Kelsey's POV)

Nine days. Nine days and no definitive proof of Megan's being here. She certainly wasn't the tracker Henry was. We'd have to leave soon, there were only four days left of winter break and Abby, Luke, Ivy, and Collin would all need to get home. Maybe she had given up? If she wasn't taken down by the time they went back home, I wasn't sure what would happen.

Suddenly there was a shriek from up the hall and a door slammed.

"I've got it," Seth said, getting up and quickly heading toward the sound.

A few minutes later he and Abby, who had been looking for her purse, came back. Apparently she had just opened the door on Collin while he was changing. He did know there was a lock right?

Abby sighed.

"What?" I asked.

"I think I left my purse at the Cullen's yesterday. I guess I've got to go get it," she said, going to get her coat.

"It's cold outside. You should just call them, I'm sure they'll bring it the next time they come by."

"No, I kind of need some stuff in it now and that would be kind of rude anyway."

"No it wouldn't," I replied. "They wouldn't mind at all."

"Yeah, it kind of would, and I'm perfectly capable of going over there to get it myself."

"Will you take Caleb with you?"

"No, I don't need to take him with me and I'm sure he doesn't want to go."

"Will you please take someone with you?"

"No."

"Well then you can't go." As soon as I said it I realized my fatal mistake.

"Will you stop Kelsey?" Abby snapped. "I'm not a child! You can't tell me what to do anymore! I can take care of myself!"

"But…" I started.

"And no, I'm _not_ your child because you are not my mother!"

I felt the blow of the words, I wasn't even going to say that, but there wasn't any time to be hurt despite the tears I felt welling up in my eyes. I grabbed her arm as she started to head out the door. "Abby, please, I'm begging you." If only she knew what I knew, if only she could have seen what I dreamt last night. It was the same horrific nightmare that had haunted me two years after our mother's death, but she was the one who died this time.

"No! I'm going to put on a jacket and boots, walk to the Cullen's house, get my purse, and walk back, and everything will be fine. I won't get eaten by the ferocious wolves you keep talking about, I won't get attacked by a mountain lion, I won't get lost for days on end. Then maybe you'll see there's nothing to worry about for once!" She yanked herself away and stormed out of the house.

"Abby!" I shouted after her, but she was gone. "Oh, Abby," I sighed.

"I'm sure she didn't mean it," Luke said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Oh my gosh, you're really scared, aren't you?" he asked softly.

I nodded.

"I'm sure she'll be fine Kelsey. Although she could have said it more nicely she has a point."

"I know," I whimpered. Neither of them could understand. What was I going to do now? "I guess I'll just call the Cullen's and tell them she's coming. They may not be expecting company."

"That's a good idea," Luke said, "I'll talk to her when she gets back; it's probably just the hormones starting to set in."

"Yeah, I guess," I said quietly, picking the phone up from the table. Luke was probably right, and I would seem overprotective to her the past few days.

I called the Cullen's house and Alice said she'd keep an eye out and call me when Abby got there, or if she heard or saw anything suspicious. For a while I waited in the house, trying to distract myself by talking to Rachel, but I always found myself checking the time, several times a minute in fact. Finally I put on a jacket and went to the back porch to wait for her. I paced up and down the yard where I could hear the kids playful shouting, having snowball fights and sledding down the hills. Even outside I checked my cell phone for missed calls and messages. Billy's pocket knife sat on the snow covered table, I picked it up and looked at the intricate cover, it was enough to distract me for a few seconds.

Suddenly I saw a familiar white flash. It was coming straight towards me. I shrieked, but it was too late, Megan had me thrown over her shoulder. We flew through the forest for what seemed like forever until she threw me to the ground in secluded spot. Abby was sitting under a tree, looking terrified out of her wits.

"Let her go," I demanded.

Megan laughed. "Hmmm…I think not."

"Don't make me…" I threatened. I didn't know what I was going to do, but if she made an attempt on Abby's life I'd have to do something.

"Make you what?" she taunted.

I glared at her. Of course I knew I couldn't do anything to her anymore. I didn't understand why I wasn't changing back, but Megan could smell it.

"It seems like sissy can't save you this time," she snickered to Abby.

"What is this?" Abby asked, she looked like she'd been crying.

"Let her go, it's me you want," I repeated, ignoring Abby for the moment to make it easier.

"Yes, yes, that's somewhat true. I want both of you. Unfortunately I can only have her, but now I see the great opportunity to hurt you in the way you hurt me," Megan said an evil grin coming across her face.

"I may not be able to do anything, but if you so much as try, the pack will kill you."

Megan chuckled to herself. "Oh! They didn't tell you? They can't kill me. Nothing can save her now; all that's left to do is watch you watch her suffer."

What? The pack couldn't kill her? That was preposterous!

"Kelsey...?" Abby started, but before she could finish Megan grabbed her arm, shoved up the sleeve of her coat and squeezed her arm. Abby gasped in pain and by the time Megan let go black and blue marks where her fingers had been had already started to form.

"Leave her alone! She didn't do anything to you!" I shouted.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I'd call causing the death of my husband something," Megan growled.

"She had nothing to do with that! It's not her fault if your husband was a sadistic maniac. We warned him of what would happen! We _told_ him we were willing to kill him! We even offered him a way out! He knew what he was doing!"

"Oh yeah? Well who killed him then? WHO KILLED HIM!?!" she shrieked.

"He did! Your suicidal, psychopathic, bloodsucker of a husband killed himself by starting the entire thing!"

"If you say that again I swear I will bite her!"

I bit my tongue to keep a retort from coming out. She was serious, her muscles twitching, just dying to attack. I finally noticed her eyes, they were blacker than coal. "You're pretty hungry aren't you?" I asked. An idea started to form in the back of my head.

"I've been waiting a long time for this. Since I'm going to kill her she may as well serve as a good meal too. I'd hate to be wasteful."

Everything started to click in my head, Megan's hunger, Ava's comments about my scent after I became a human again, Jacob's theories about changing back. I reached into my pocket and fingered the cold metal case of the pocket knife. If this worked I could save her, but if it failed…it could be the death of both of us.

"Abby, do you trust me?" I asked.

She sat there silently, scared to speak up again.

"Abby!" I called, I could hear the break in my voice.

Finally she nodded vigorously.

"Okay, no matter what happens you have to stay calm, just sit right there, don't try to intervene," I said slowly, Megan was eyeing me suspiciously. "Abby, I love you."

" I love you too," she mouthed.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?" Megan asked sarcastically. "Now it's time to get a move on. If I recall correctly, Henry and I weren't even allowed this courtesy of a last goodbye. Shall I go ahead, or is there something else you wanted to do?"

I tightened my fingers around the knife and pulled it out. Abby's eyes widened as I threw off my jacket and pushed up my own sleeve. The blade stung as I slashed through my arm. Blood started to drip down, but while it caught Megan's attention, she didn't move. I stabbed my arm again, going deeper this time. Blood spurted out. Before I could go for a third time, Megan came running towards me. Relief washed over me. My senses, my healing, my speed, and strength, even my body heat, all came rushing back. There was no pain this time; it was almost as if they had missed me. In the split second that Megan's fingertips grazed over my bloody arm I changed back into a wolf.

Megan was astonished at first, giving me time to pin her down and give a howl, signaling for the pack's help, but then she rolled over and we wrestled. I finally had her down and was just about to rip her head off when the pack came running up.

_Kelsey stop!_ Leah cried.

_Mom?_ Caleb asked.

_Leah, you have five seconds to give me a good reason why I shouldn't kill her._ I growled.

_I...I imprinted on her Mom._ Caleb said.

I stopped dead in my tracks. What? How? Why? This had obviously been going on for a while; Caleb would have gotten his first look at Megan after turning a while ago. In fact, it was that night he was obscenely late. _ Caleb Harrison Clearwater! When were you planning on telling me this? What do you want me to do? Huh? Do you want me to just let her kill whoever she wants? Do you want me to let her kill Abby?_

_No Mom, just let me talk to her, let me try to convince her. Please Mom? _

I closed my eyes. What else could I do? I knew what it was like to love someone like that, to want nothing more than their safety and happiness, and I knew what it was like to be the subject of that love as well. Leah stepped up and nudged me, putting her paws on top of Megan, holding her down. I stepped back. The wolves pulled Megan away. She kicked and hissed when she realized what was going on, but Caleb ran back into the woods, came out with his shorts on, and begged Megan to come with them and she finally consented.

Once she was gone it was just Abby and me again. It didn't look like she was going anywhere, so I trotted into the woods, found the clothes Kenley was kind enough to get for me, and changed back into a human.

"Abby?" I called, coming back through the trees.

She stared.

"Abby? Please say something," I begged.

She got up and took a few shaky steps toward me. "Oh. My. God," she whispered. Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed.

I managed to catch her before she hit the ground, and I gently lowered her as I sat down, she was still breathing, she had probably just fainted. What was I going to do now? I looked around; we were more than a good ways from either the Black's or the Cullen's house. Suddenly I felt her hand grab my arm.

Her eyes fluttered open. First she looked extremely confused. "What? What happened?" she mumbled, sitting herself up.

"Not so fast, you fainted," I said.

"Oh...oh! Oh Kelsey! I...I...I don't know anymore. I don't remember if it was a dream or not..." she stumbled over the words.

"Shhhh...just tell me what you remember," I said.

She shook her head. "You're going to think I'm insane. Well, I was walking to the Cullen's to go get my purse, and...and then Caleb's friend Megan came, she took me and ran really fast into the middle of the woods, and then she made me sit here forever until you showed up and you were trying to get me home and she...I think she wanted to kill me, but you kept arguing with her about why she shouldn't and she gave me this," she ran her fingers over the hand shaped bruise that wrapped around her upper arm. "Then you asked me if I trusted you and...oh God! Kelsey!" She grabbed my arm and searched for the cuts that normally would have been there. When she couldn't find them she hugged me and started to sob.

"Are you okay? She didn't hurt you aside from the bruise right?" I asked. I was now paranoid about her bleeding internally.

"Kelsey! Kelsey I love you! I'm sorry I said those things to you! I didn't mean them!"

"Abby," I whispered, I felt the tears roll down my face. I couldn't express how relieved I was now. How good it felt to have her in my arms and know she was safe there.

"Kelsey, I'm scared," she whimpered.

"No baby, no, there's no need to be scared now. The worst is over. It's all over now."

"What happened?" she asked.

I took a deep breath, there was no getting around it now was there? "Abby, you saw it yourself, I'm a Shape shifter; I can change into a wolf."

"Why?" she interrupted. "Why do you turn into a wolf?"

"It's in my blood. In my blood, and Claire's, and Seth's, and Leah's, and Quil's, and Jacob's..."

"And Caleb?"

"Yes, Caleb is the copper colored one."

"And what about Shelby?"

"No, not yet, and hopefully not ever."

"Okay, but what about Megan?"

"Megan is a vampire."

Abby looked at me skeptically. "A vampire?"

"Yes a vampire. You know, there's a very long story that goes with this, but I can skip it and we can go home and just forget about this if you want to."

"No, I want to hear it. Tell me," she said, leaning her head on my shoulder.

I played with one of her curls, "When you were very little, we were walking in the woods by our house one day, and you were taken, much like you were today. The week before, I had gone through the same changes you noticed in Caleb, and I was able to run after the vampire until he finally stopped. It was then when I first transformed into a wolf and I almost killed him, but I didn't know that you had to burn the remains, so he wasn't dead. I took you up to La Push and…"

"Wait a second! This isn't that time that Dad always talks about when we were gone for five days is it?" she asked.

I nodded and continued. "We were up there for three days before they found us. During that time I learned to control my form, how to fight vampires, and I also fell in love with Seth. You and Claire had fun I think, the two of you have always been friends. Finally on the fourth day Henry, the vampire after you, merely for the challenge of fighting us, and his coven came up. We killed Henry, Lilly and Mason converted from drinking human blood to those of animals like the Cullens…"

"The Cullens are vampires?" Abby asked.

I nodded again.

"Wow," she breathed.

"But his wife, Megan, got away, and of course, she was angry, she wanted revenge. It took her until this week to find us again, and that's why she went after you. Apparently though, Caleb is in love with her in the same way Seth and I are in love, so hopefully he's talking sense into her as we speak. I'm so sorry sweetheart; I wish you didn't have to go through this. I should have done a better job of protecting you. I shouldn't have let you go. I mean, if it weren't for me you wouldn't have even been in this mess to begin with."

I felt Abby's arms tighten around me again. "Sorry? You're _sorry_? Kelsey, you saved my life twice! And that's only the least of everything you've done for me! Those things I said earlier, they're totally untrue! You've been a mother, a sister, and more to me, and even as a little girl I always wanted to be just like you."

The tears poured out now in spite of the smile on my face.

"But," she continued. Really? Why not just leave it at that? "you are still not the boss of me. I'm a grown woman. I understand that you still see me as your baby, and I wouldn't have it any other way, but you stopped being the boss of me when I moved out."

"Can't we have joint custody of being the boss of you?" I asked jokingly as the air lightened a little.

"Hmm...nope. It would be weird if I had to call and ask for permission half of the time I wanted to go out."

"Can I have a representative in your conscience?" I giggled.

"Well...okay. Since she's already all moved in. Don't worry; I think that was my last time doing something just to spite you when I know you're truly worried."

"Good, maybe now you won't send me to an early grave."

Finally we got up and started to walk back to the house. It must have been freezing for Abby, so I continued to be as close to her as possible so that my new warmth would transfer to her.

"Oh, there's one more thing I want to tell you. Except it's kind of disgusting, and it's burned into my memory and has now scarred me for life," Abby said as we exited the small clearing.

"What would that be?" I inquired, this would be interesting.

"I didn't really leave my purse at the Cullens…" she started.

"WHAT?" I screeched. "You put us through all that for nothing?!?"

Abby began tear up again. "I promise there's a reason!"

I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. I hadn't meant to come off that harshly. "Okay, I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. Now what were you going to say?"

"I saw…I saw…um…I don't know how to say this…"

"Out with it!"

"I saw Dad and Ava…and they were…um…"

"Kissing?" Ava had already kissed Dad, and then she came crying to me about it. It was then I felt really bad about asking her to come up.

"More."

"More?"

"Yes, like, I open the door and neither of them is dressed more."

"Really?" I couldn't help but giggle.

"Kelsey!" Abby hit my arm, of course, it didn't hurt, even if she was trying for that. "She's younger than us!"

"Only physically, remember, the Cullen's are vampires."

"That still doesn't give her the right. That skank."

"Looks like someone's not happy about Dad having a girlfriend," I teased.

"I'm fine with Dad having a girlfriend. I'm not fine with Dad having a girlfriend less than half his age," she pouted.

I thought about it for a while, and finally decided to tell her. "Well, I've already spilled every other secret I've managed to keep for twenty eight years today; I may as well tell this one too."

"Ooh, what is it?"

"Actually, I'm not sure if you'd believe me."

"I've believed everything else you've said, haven't I? At this point you could tell me the sky is green and I'd believe you."

"Ava is your mother."

"Okay, you're right, I don't believe you."

"Knew you wouldn't, but it's true. That's where you recognize her from."

"No, I've seen her somewhere else! She doesn't look like the pictures!"

"Hmm…you probably saw her at my wedding when you were nine, she looked exactly the same then as she does now."

"I don't believe you!" she said, getting more and more stubborn. A combination of shock, tiredness, hunger, and hormones was my guess for her change of mood. Arguing now would be futile, and frankly I was too tired to try and convince her.

"Okay Abby, I know it's a lot. Let's just go home. I'm sure Sue will have something warm for us to drink."

Abby nodded and we treaded through the snow until we reached the Blacks' house, where indeed there was hot chocolate just waiting to be drunk.

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**Awww, we are coming to an end. I anticipate three more chapters, so things will be resolving quickly from here. Well, that's about it. Reviews are much appreciated, but thank you for reading!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey! Okay, first off a shout out to Megan...Happy birthday! :)))) I posted a chapter (in your POV) just for you! I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well.**

**Disclaimer: If I were Stephenie Meyer would I be posting on a fanfiction website? The answer to that is no.**

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Chapter 11.

Megan's POV

I almost had her! I almost had the little pest and I let myself get talked out of it! Of course, at the time, there was a gigantic wolf on top of me and I was surrounded by at least five others, but still, I just left! Now I was sitting on the ground with Caleb, waiting for the wolves to decide my fate, not that they would kill me. I still had the upper hand. They couldn't kill me, and therefore, couldn't stop me. It didn't matter how long it took, I'd find her address, and stalk her for months on end like James and Henry used to do if that were what it took.

More minutes passed in silence and I continued to think of what I could have done to avoid this, and what I could do to avoid it in the future, but when I thought back, the main thing I remembered the looks of fear and anguish on their faces, even on Caleb's face, that I had seen only a few minutes earlier. The strange part was, it hurt me, I felt their pain. Why was this happening? Why did I even care? Wasn't the point of my mission? To make them feel the grief I had felt over Henry? To make them suffer? I shook my head in confusion.

Caleb wouldn't look at me. He kept his eyes fixed to the ground. Poor kid. Why did he have to suffer at my hand? Well, technically he didn't have to, but the only way to do that would be to give up my chase, to give up Henry and to give up my old way of life. I'd have to learn how to be a "vegetarian" and live with the taste of animal blood. I looked at Caleb again. It was worth it.

"Caleb," I said softly. I was going to apologize and announce my decision.

Suddenly I was knocked down out of nowhere. I flipped over to see that Cullen girl again.

"What did I tell you?" she growled.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Caleb shouted. The words echoed in my mind, but it was his mother's voice. The other wolves did nothing. It wasn't their problem if some other vampire chick killed me.

"Just stay out of this Caleb!" she shouted back.

"Right, like I can do that. Like I can just stand by and watch you hurt her."

"That would be the wise thing to do," she said.

"I love her!"

"I know Caleb! 'I love her! I love her!' That's your excuse, and while it's a good one, I don't care. She hurt them and she will pay or my name isn't Rosalie Belle Hatton Jacobs!" I thought Rosalie was the blonde one.

"Good, then no one gets hurt," Caleb said, calming down a little.

"I don't think you understand. My name _is_ Rosalie Bell Hatton Jacobs."

"I thought your name was Ava Cullen."

"No, that's just what I've had everyone call me since I got changed."

"I love how you're having this conversation while I'm here pinned to the ground," I said sarcastically to Caleb.

"Shut up," the Rosalie/Ava person said.

"Wait! I've heard that name before! You…you aren't my grandmother are you?" Caleb asked.

"Well, I'd prefer you call me Ava, but yes."

"And you're going to hurt my love. I've heard of mother-in-laws hating their children's spouses, but never grandmother-in-laws."

"That's usually because the grandmother-in-law doesn't live to see her granddaughter-in-law."

"Okay, well, I'll just let you have a nice little family moment if you just let me get up." I said attempting to get up.

"Oh no you don't," she said pushing me back to the ground. "Now, because I do care about Caleb and his feelings for you, you're going to tell me exactly what kind of damage you did to those girls, and if I find out any different then I will come back and kill you. That is a promise."

"Um…I bruised the blonde one's arm and the other one had to cut herself with a pocket knife to phase, I didn't do it, but I'm sure you'd count it, but that's it I promise."

She growled angrily, tore off my left arm and threw it into the forest, then did the same with my right. It sort of hurt, but not really bad.

"What the Hell?" Caleb shouted.

"Bruises and cuts will heal and she can put her arms back on. Just be glad I don't tear off the rest of your appendages while I'm at it."

"I am forever in your debt," I replied sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind…" I hopped up and walked over to get my arms. What I didn't notice until I was walking back, one of my arms holding the other, the first one in my mouth, was that Caleb had changed back into a wolf.

"Caleb!" I called, the arm dropping out of my mouth, as he bolted past me.

He growled ferociously and jumped at Ava who cried out in surprise. I watched for a little while as he began to tear her limb from limb, but then he was interrupted by a huge black wolf. He shoved Caleb off of Ava and the smaller dark brown one held him down as the black wolf handed the appendages to their rightful owners, aka Ava and I. He then ran into the forest and came back wearing Caleb's shorts. It was funny how they could comfortably walk around in the snow just wearing shorts.

"Everyone calm down!" his loud, low voice echoed through the woods. "I know we will most likely never all get along, but that doesn't mean we constantly have to be fighting. "Caleb, stop trying to kill Ava, she's your grandmother for goodness sake! Show some respect boy, even if it's self respect! Ava, stop trying to kill Megan, it will do you no good to stoop to killing. Megan, stop trying to get revenge. What's done is done, you obviously have a dedicated boyfriend now, and as you can see, murder starts a vicious cycle of revenge."

"As long as she's after my children I'll be after her," Ava stated matter-of-factly.

The dark brown wolf let Caleb get up and he ran back into the forest and came back out in his shorts. I guess the ones the other guy was wearing weren't his.

"Koda!" he complained. "You know I have to protect Megan. She's my imprint."

Koda turned his head and looked at me. "I guess it's up to you then. What's more important? Avenging your former husband, or protecting your current love."

I sighed remembering the thoughts I had been thinking before all of this. "Caleb, I'm done. I give up. After coming so close to my revenge it's not what I thought it would be. It's not what I wanted. I'll try this whole "vegetarian" thing if you want. No more tricks, no more killing, no more revenge. I promise. Just you and me."

He ran over and kissed me. Some of the wolves shook their heads and looked away, but I didn't care.

"Well, I guess as long as you're not _trying_ to kill anyone I can try and be civil," Ava said, although I could tell she was still resentful, but it was a step.

Caleb ran over and kissed her on the cheek. She smiled hugged him tightly.

"Mmm...your mom was right you are a sweetie...I love you," she said softly, ruffling his hair.

"You haven't known me for two weeks!" Caleb exclaimed.

"I've known you your whole life silly! I was even there the day you were born! _You've_ only known _me_ for nine days."

"Oh. Right. So I'm guessing Mom knows," Caleb said.

"Yeah, actually basically everyone but Shelby and Abby know now, although depending on what your mom said to explain this," Ava cast a glare at me, "Abby may or may not know"

"Don't forget Grandad too," Caleb added.

Ava cringed at the word Grandad. "Wow, have to get used to that one. Yes, he knows, I told him today."

"What'd he say? He talked about you a lot before."

"Oh, you know, what you'd say if Megan supposedly 'died' and showed up thirty years later."

"Oh, I hate it when that happens," Caleb joked.

"Hey! They told us there was going to be a fight! Where's the fight? I was all revved up too," a voice said from behind us. I hadn't heard it in so long, but I recognized it immediately.

"Mason! Lilly!" I shouted, throwing myself at them.

"Megan!" Lilly shouted equally loudly.

Mason caught me in my run and spun me around. "We thought we'd never see you again Megsy. Especially with this one after you," he laughed and nodded toward Ava.

"You'll never guess who's in love with her sworn enemy," I giggled.

"You, and it's that one," Lilly smiled, pointing at Caleb. "I can tell by the way he looks at you, and by his movements he wants you."

"So, you don't think there'd be an extra room for me up in Alaska would you?"

"Alaska!" Caleb exclaimed. "Why do you want to go there?"

I laughed and shook my head. "I'm not going to be off human blood in a day, baby. It'll take years of practice, especially since I've had it for so long. It would help if I hung around other vampires who were doing the same thing. You know I want to stay with you Caleb, but you have things to do too."

"Like what?" he retorted.

"Like finishing high school," I hinted.

"Like trying to get your mother to go along with this without kicking you out of the family," Ava laughed, playfully hitting him in the back of the head.

"Oh, yeah, that _will_ take the next three years," Caleb grinned.

It didn't matter though. Sure it would be great if we got her blessing, but it wasn't necessary. She would die eventually. Caleb would hate it when his family died off, which was why I needed to leave him with them for now. One of my main regrets about being a vampire was that I had to abandon my family to not hurt them. Yes, the main purpose of my going to Alaska was to learn to conquer my thirst, but if my sweet Caleb taught me one thing, it was the importance of family, and if I was going to be with him, his family was going to have to become my family.

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**Hey! Sorry for the short chapter, I didn't realize it was that short until it was on the document manager. Well, thanks for reading, as always, please review! **

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Yay! It's the second to last chapter! As you well know, I do not own Twilight. Enjoy!**

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Chapter 12.

Abby's POV

I pondered refilling my mug as I sipped the last few drops of hot chocolate out of it. For a moment I actually wondered if anyone would notice if I slipped some alcohol in it, but then I figured that not only would it taste nasty, but they would definitely notice. Still, it would be nice to be able to forget what just happened. The only reason I knew it wasn't just a dream or hallucination was the huge bruise hidden under my sleeve.

Looking up, I saw that Kelsey was continuing to stare silently at the wall; her expression was still hard, determined, protective. The only thing that gave away how she might be feeling were her eyes. They looked tired and frightened. Now that I knew why she was acting this way I didn't blame her. I even felt bad for her, having to go through all this and keep it a secret for so long. Before I thought I knew all of Kelsey's little dark secrets, because she certainly knew most of mine, but after this I wasn't so sure. I thought I knew her so well, but I guess not.

Most of it I believed. Despite the illusion I still trusted her. She was just trying to protect me, it was something she would do, it was all believable. The wolves, the vampires, all of that I had seen, all of that passed as real in my book, but the last thing she said; that Ava was our mother; that I wasn't so sure about. My mother had been dead my entire life and her name wasn't even Ava. I saw the headstone. Nowhere on there were the words "Ava Cullen" or "does not age" or "is still living as a vampire".

On the other hand, everything else she had said was true and our mother was not a subject Kelsey took lightly. Ever. Still, it was a lot. Even if she was telling the truth I wasn't ready for it.

Kelsey's expression was still hard. I wished she would change it. I wanted to see her smile, wanted the reassurance that everything would be okay. I slipped my hand over hers. The warmth reminded me of my childhood. It made me long for simpler times when problems could be solved so easily. She finally looked at me and her expression softened. She unclenched her jaw and her face relaxed. I didn't know why it surprised me so much to think that she was looking for reassurance too. I smiled gently. She returned the smile and sighed.

"Tired," she muttered, throwing her head back and resting it on the back of the couch.

It was one of those afternoons. Even Ivy and Declan had fallen asleep sprawled out in front of the fire place. The snow had stopped falling of course, but the skies were clouded over and the fire was just too inviting. It seemed to draw everyone to the living room. Luke was on the other side of me. He was so funny when I got home. He lectured me on not exploding on people like I had and that I had basically made Kelsey cry, which to him was a difficult thing to do, but he's never seen her when we watch "The Notebook" or "A Walk to Remember." Still, at least in my experience, aside from movies she's pretty hard to break down. If I hadn't known that all was forgiven I likely would have broken down then and there. I had to explain to him over the lecture that she'd caught me on the way and that we'd worked everything out although I didn't mention all the mythical stuff. He would have called an ambulance or something.

Everyone else was cuddled up with their respective spouse, and the only one missing was Dad. Honestly, I was grateful. I didn't think I could look at him the same way. I mean, I guess I couldn't have expected him to stay celibate the rest of his life, but he could have at least hooked up with someone his own age. It was disturbing. The thought was dancing in the very back of my mind that Kelsey was making up that Ava was our mother so she wouldn't have to accept that Dad was sleeping with women far younger than himself. If that were true, and if I refused to believe her then that would mean that Kelsey had some sort of psychological problem, and I loved her too much to hope in any form that that were true; even if it meant hoping that by some stretch of fate that Ava was in fact my mother.

"Do you want some more?" Kelsey mouthed, pointing at her own cup.

I smiled and nodded as I handed her my empty mug.

A few minutes Dad came in. When he saw me he got the biggest smile on his face. I couldn't help but cringe internally, but on the outside I smiled back.

"Good to see you," he whispered since talking would have broken the room's sleepy atmosphere. He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. "I'm sorry you walked in earlier, I should have locked the door."

I bit my lip as not to say anything. This was strictly a matter between me, him, Ava, and Kelsey should she decide to get involved.

The minutes passed and Kelsey didn't come back. At first I just figured time was going slowly because I was waiting uncomfortably for her return. Not only were my hands cold, but her spot was the space between where Dad and I were sitting, so she would ease the awkwardness that way too. After awhile though I got tired of waiting and got up from my spot to go check on her, but she wasn't in the kitchen.

I looked around confusedly until I finally heared very faint shouting over the crackling of the fire. The shouting sounded like it was coming from outside and I peeked out the window. It appeared that Kelsey and Ava were having some sort of shouting match. I was glad that Kelsey wasn't mentally insane, and wanted to get my fair share of derogatory terms that normally I would never say in, so I went out to join her.

"Go back inside Abby," Kelsey growled as soon as I opened the door.

"What? Why can't she be out here? It's really not what you think," Ava protested.

"It's below freezing outside and she doesn't have a coat on," Kelsey objected.

"That is true," Ava agreed. "But what should it matter otherwise! I didn't do it!"

A growl that wasn't human erupted from Kelsey.

I ran over to her and wrapped my arms around her. I had to keep her from turning for both of our sanities. It was also good because I was starting to get cold, and she was nice and cozy to press my arms and cheek against.

She didn't back down much though. Her stance went from about to attack to defensive, but she was still tense and twitchy. "Abby, you should really go inside," she said through clenched teeth.

"I promise it's not what you think!" Ava repeated.

"I saw you; you were definitely doing what we think you did," I said. Had she forgotten already?

"Not that," they said simultaneously.

"There is no way the two of you could have…done that…without you losing control! It's just not possible!"

"Kelsey, I'm telling you it is! It really wasn't as good as you think; it was pretty easy to focus on not killing him."

"What?" I asked. Since when did sex imply killing people?

"She…bit…Dad…"

"And…" I didn't think she had rabies, but maybe, who knew anything anymore? Not me.

"When a vampire," she spat the word with a special hatred, "bites someone and they actually survive it they become one too."

Oh, that was bad. I didn't want Dad to be a vicious blood sucker. Then I remembered. "I just saw Dad in the living room. He wasn't a vampire."

Kelsey didn't comprehend it for a second, but then she was motionless, a look of shock on her face.

"Kelsey?" I asked, shaking her a little.

Her expression turned from shock to remorse. "Oh," she said, blushing a little. "I…I'm sorry then."

"How could you even think that?" Ava scolded. Scolded. How strange considering that Kelsey was so much older than her.

"I know. I said I was sorry. I was just…"

"Worrying incessantly?" Ava offered.

"That's always a safe guess," I interrupted.

Kelsey shot me a look.

"Oh, hi by the way, sorry if earlier was…um…yeah," Ava said, looking down a little, her face showing both sorrow and amusement.

I shook my head. I couldn't think of anything to say that I would actually mean in some way that didn't involve a long string of cursing or basically beating her up myself although I knew from experience with Megan that wouldn't be possible. Besides, I was still cozy right where I was. Kelsey had adjusted herself so it was no longer an awkward position, and allowed the maximum amount of heat transfer so I didn't freeze to death.

"Does she know about me?" Ava asked Kelsey.

"Well, I told her, but she claims she doesn't believe me," Kelsey replied, shrugging slightly.

Could it really be true? After all these years could my mother have been right in front of me? I just didn't know. My head was swimming with confusion. Why did she never write or call or contact us to let us know she was alive? Did she even know how much we had missed her? Did she not care how many nights Dad and Kelsey spent up crying or even just looking gloomy?

As far back as I could remember it was like that. Never in front of me though. I only knew because I was a very sneaky spy. Kelsey and Dad tried so hard, all the time, not just to keep things running but to do a good job of it and to try and give me as normal a childhood as the could give me. I hadn't even questioned how my mother had died until I was being a sneaky spy at the age of six and found her death certificate and saw that it had my birth date as the death date.

And now she was just back? She didn't look like the pictures anymore, but she hadn't aged any either. When I looked for it I saw the resemblance, and although I had never known her, her actions, her expression, even the way she held herself, leaning forward with concern and anticipation, seemed right. It seemed like what Kelsey had told me about her.

I just didn't know what to think.

"So Megan's moving up to Alaska, at least until Caleb graduates high school," Ava said, trying to make small talk with Kelsey while she was obviously waiting for a response from me. I couldn't give her one.

"Good," Kelsey pouted.

"She's going to live with the Denali clan, she's going to try and be a vegetarian."

"It's the least she could do since she oh-so-rudely tried to kill us then fell in love with my son."

"I know, if it makes you feel better I tore her arms off and threw them into the woods."

The picture in my mind was horribly graphic. Hopefully vampires could put their limbs back on or something.

"It does make me feel a little better," Kelsey said, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I knew it would," Ava smiled, taking a few steps closer so it was less like they were about to fight and more like they were chatting.

The smile was familiar, I recognized it. I finally saw it and knew beyond a doubt, but I was too stunned to do anything about it. Part of me wanted to run up and hug her, part of me wanted to go slap her face for leaving no matter what kind of damage it might cause my hand, but because neither side was particularly winning I just stayed where I was and stared while they made a little more small talk about things I could only halfway follow.

Finally Dad came out looking for us as well. "What the heck are you doing out here? It's cold and people are starting to think you fell down the sink."

"Well, your older daughter just had a fit because she thought I did what you want me to do," Ava said.

"Oh," Dad said. It was obvious he wished he had never come out.

Kelsey stared blankly at him. "You. Wanted. That?" she said.

"Try to understand Kelsey, what if it were you and Seth?" he asked. This did not help Kelsey "understand".

"If it were Seth, someone would get an ass kicking, and I would try to be with him as much as possible, but under no circumstances would I screw up my life like that. No offense Mom."

"It's not like I chose it," Ava/Mom shrugged. "I won't do it, and I doubt Carlisle will either so that's that."

"Good," Kelsey said.

"Girls can I speak to your mother privately?" Dad asked.

I was going numb. Both on my body that wasn't covered, and inside too. I couldn't think. Kelsey had to basically lead me inside. It was so much warmer inside, but I really didn't want to let go of Kelsey, and she didn't make me until I got in the way of her pouring the hot chocolate back into our glasses.

"Where've you been?" Luke chuckled as I took back my spot.

I shrugged. "Kitchen," I mumbled.

He kissed my forehead. Ivy had woken up from her nap but still in a sleepy stupor got up, walked over to the couch and climbed into my lap. I looked over at Kelsey, down at Ivy, and I thought about Ava and what I knew now. There was only one thought resonating in my mind.

Mom?

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**Oh goodness, I'm somewhat saddened now, just one more chapter to go :( ...okay, well, I'm gonna try and post within the week, but I've got a lot of school work then exams, so it may be a while...thank you shout out to Megan and Shelby as always...thanks for reading and please review!!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Yay! Last official chapter! I don't own Twilight As always, enjoy!**

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Chapter 13.

Caleb's POV

Today was the day. Our last day up at La Push. The last day I would see Megan or the pack until spring break. I had everything packed early so I could see her before we left off. I tore through the woods at top speed. It would be a while before Mom would let Megan within two miles of Aunt Abby, so if I wanted to see her I'd have to run over and do it myself.

When I finally got to the motel room where she was staying, she ran to me and tackled me to the ground. Once I was able to get up we went into the motel room. It was a little crowded with Mason and Lilly in there, but Megan didn't seem to care, she went right on kissing me, although we agreed that since we had forever we would wait at least a few years before we "did it."

"PDA!! PDA!!" Mason cried, running over and touching Megan. She glared at him. I didn't want her in a bad mood, so I reinitiated our kiss. Then Mason touched me.

"OW!" An electric current rocketed through my veins, I had to stop and clutch the spot where he touched my arm. "Ughhhhh..." I moaned.

"What did you do to him?" Megan exclaimed, punching him in the stomach.

"Sorry!" Mason pouted. "I forgot the wolfies are more sensitive to me. I'll turn it down a notch." He touched me again, but this time it was just a mild shock, like one of those prank buzzers.

"Well, we're starved, we're going to go hunting...want to come?" Lilly asked. "Caleb?"

"No thanks," I laughed shaking my head.

"And we know you've eaten," Mason said to Megan. Her eyes were red, Lilly had explained that they would be that way for a while until the animal blood set in, but already I could see the color turning from ruby red to a golden sunset color.

Mason and Lilly left quickly.

"They weren't really hungry..." Megan smiled.

I realized their eyes had been golden, they must have hunted with Megan after the fight.

Megan sighed and leaned into me.

"Do you really have to go away?" I asked. I could barely bare a moment without her. How was I going to go for months?

She smiled. "Yes."

I stuck out my lower lip and pouted.

"It's not my fault," she grinned. "You make me want to be a better person."

"Technically you're not a person..." I tried as a last resort.

"You know what I mean," she chuckled, punching my arm. "You know what?" she asked.

"What?"

"We're so in love, but we know almost nothing about each other. It's crazy," she grinned.

"Well, that's the way imprinting works, that's the way it worked for my parents," I said.

"See! I didn't know that!" she exclaimed. "You have to tell me everything about yourself! By the way, tell your mom I'm sorry if it'll do anything right now..."

I laughed. "Well, I think she's still pretty pissed, but I did overhear her telling Dad that she was glad she wouldn't be aging for the next five years."

"Well, it's a start. Anyway, tell me about yourself!"

So I told her some things, I started with my birth and worked my way up with stories I had heard about my childhood until I reached about age two. I was about to close up and tell her we did have to make it last forever, but then a loud wolf howl pierced the air. What was it now? "I'm sorry, I've got to go baby," I said, kissing the top of her head.

"Will you be back before you leave?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said. I had no clue what they could be calling the pack for now. "I'll call you."

I jumped off the bed and threw off my clothes transforming into my wolf. Megan stuffed my clothes into the gym bag I now constantly carried around, an excellent idea on Megan's part although I didn't tell the pack it was her idea, and she pulled it over my shoulders. I jumped up and licked her cheek and bolted out her door, through the motel parking lot and into the woods.

_What is it?_ I asked Leah once I got a connection with her.

_Just wait until the rest of the pack gets here,_ she said, guarding the secret well.

Finally everyone else had assembled and we crowded around Leah.

_As you all know_ she started, she almost sounded sad, _Reese and I are in love. Madly in love. We've talked about it a lot, and we've both decided to give up our wolves so that we can start a family during our parents' lifetimes. Since the events of two days ago I know we've made the right decision. This is the last time I'll be speaking to you as your Alpha. Koda, I know you'll do a great job. _

The Alpha tone in her voice faded as she spoke and she became just another wolf.

There was a short clatter in the pack mind as his siblings cheered him on as he made his way in front of the pack.

_I...I don't know what to say. Thank you,_ Koda said. At this we all knew he was the rightful Alpha. The only question now was who was Beta?

Koda took a second to think about who he would appoint, he hadn't been expecting this. _Britta, you can be my Beta, you're the second most experienced and I think you'll be able to call the shots when I'm not here._

_Okay, thanks,_ she said. She had been expecting this.

_Guess this means I'll have to be in town more won't I?_

_Mom will like that,_ Kenley said. _Oooh! Wait until you tell Dad! He'll be so happy for you!_

_More like Koda will get a five hour lecture on how to be a pack leader,_ Britta snickered.

_Oh, Caleb, I was supposed to tell you, your mom says you guys are leaving in an hour._ Leah said.

Right. We were leaving. It was sad. The pack had become like another family to me.

_Well newbie, I guess you've got to go. If you phase sometime soon someone's bound to be on the other side, so keep us posted and stay posted yourself, okay?_ Koda said, giving me a sort of wolf hug.

_Take care of your sister for me,_ Channing said, following suit.

_Like I have a choice,_ I muttered.

Kenley laughed. _Glad you're in the pack. Like Koda said, phase soon so we can talk to you!_

_We'll miss you and all the drama you and your family bring, _Britta added.

_Okay, okay, Caleb needs to go now._ Leah said.

I said goodbye to everyone then went back to the house, phasing back before I got there.

Aunt Abby was putting some of Ivy's stuff in the car and I saw yet another opportunity. Since she had found out about us she'd been a little jumpy and easy to scare, which was very fun to do as Koda, Channing, and I had found, but we could only do it when Mom wasn't around. "Boo!"

She jumped, but she was realizing it was just us more quickly and the effect was starting to wear off. "Must you do that?" she muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Eh, it's not as fun anymore," I shrugged, but I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Mom says you need to get your stuff in the car," Shelby said. She was sad about leaving Channing. She already had a crush on him! If only she knew how much he liked her back.

"Hey Shelby, I'll probably be coming up here some on the weekends, you want to come with me sometime?" I asked. I couldn't stand her being all mopey like this.

"Awww…you're such a good brother," Aunt Abby gushed, wrapping her arms around my neck. Koda and Channing walked by and snickered. "Revenge is sweet," she grinned, letting go of my neck and going back inside.

"That was cold," Shelby giggled.

I picked her up and swung her upside down which I could do with my new increase in height. "Hey little sister, you know what?"

"What? What?" she gasped between fits of laughter. Her face was turning red.

I put her back down. "Nothing," I said mysteriously. This would torture her for at least a week.

"WHAT??" she begged.

"Nothing," I said, starting to walk away.

"CALEB!!!"

"I thought you said they were being good," Dad said, coming back out the door with Aunt Abby again. "Oh, Caleb, don't go back inside, we're about to leave."

"I have to get my stuff!" I said, opening the door. I went back to our room to grab my bag. I had to slam the door back shut. Ava and Grandad were making out in there. Gross.

"What do you want?" Grandad asked, opening the door.

"My suitcase," I said pushing past him a little. My suitcase came flying at me. I managed to catch it

"There, now get out!" Ava said.

"Gladly." I took my suitcase back out and threw it in the trunk.

"Where's Grandad and Ava? We're about to leave!" Mom asked. Ivy and Shelby were already situated in the car.

"They're…um…in the back room," I said.

Mom sighed exasperatedly and marched back to get them.

About a minute later they all came out, Grandad and Ava were clearly not happy about our leaving. Mom seemed to be sort of sympathetic to them, but she was definitely ushering them along. Aunt Abby stared at them with a weird look on her face. We still didn't know if she believed that Ava was her mother or not.

Aside from Ivy and Shelby everyone was barraged with hugs right before we left. Mom seemed to be pleased when Aunt Abby finally did hug Ava, but not so much when Grandad started whispering things in Ava's ear. I wished Megan were there and hoped that eventually everyone would be able to get along.

Finally we were on the road. About my ringer went off, probably Megan, but I couldn't find my phone.

"Oh, yeah," Mom said, digging it out of her purse. She took a quick glance at the name on the screen and bit her lip a little. Still, she reached back and handed me the phone. "You forgot this."

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**Hey! Well, I might have lied a little, there'll be an epilouge in a little bit...Again, I thank Shelby and Megan. Please reveiw! Thanks!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**


	14. Epilogue

**Oh my gosh! It's the end!! And I STILL don't own Twilight!!!**

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Epilogue

(Caleb's POV, 11 years later)

"Woah! Okay, this is why we practice," I said as the car came to an abrupt halt and then lurched forward.

"Sorry Caleb," Ivy said yet again.

"Just park here." We had just rounded the corner to First Beach where we were having a big bonfire. "You looking forward to going to prom with Declan?" I asked to help her relax some.

"Yeah, I already know what color dress I want. I'm thinking light blue…" she went on about the dress until we pulled up in front of the house.

"Did she kill you?"

"Did she crash into a tree?"

"Did she end up going off the road?"

Wesley and Rose ran up to the car and took turns asking these questions until Ivy smacked them both in the back of the head. I couldn't help but chuckle as I put down the flowers we had gone to get.

"Ivy, be nice," Aunt Abby said, but she wasn't really paying attention. She was worried about Grandad coming later.

She and Mom were none too happy when he convinced Alice to change him. They were even unhappier after they actually went through with it. In fact, they shunned him, Alice, and Ava, though she had also been opposed to it, for five years. I had to play runner boy between them when it came to other things. Luckily they had sort of patched things up now that they had realized they were the ones who were going to die and that they didn't want to leave things badly, in fact that was the subject of Mom's midlife crisis.

"Hello!" Shelby said as she and Channing pulled up behind us.

"Hiiiiiiiii Shelby!" I said, waving vigorously at her and Channing as they walked through the door.

"Got these for you," Channing said, picking the flowers from where I had left them.

"You picked them up off the table; I bet those are my mom's." Shelby said putting them back.

"No, they're for you; I made your brother go get them. See, there's even a little card."

There indeed was a little card that said. "Shelby, today just seemed like a day for surprises, I love you. --Channing"

"Aww, you're too sweet," she blushed.

As Mom and Dad came over to say hi to them too, Channing cleared his throat.

"Shelby, I need to ask you something."

"What?" She was totally oblivious, still preoccupied with the flowers.

"Do you love me?" He was still standing.

"Yes…"

"Do you want to be with me?"

"For as long as possible. What are you getting at?"

You could hardly keep the grin off his face. "I love you too." He finally dropped down to one knee and got out the box. "I figured since we agree on that we should probably get married sometime soon. What do you think?"

Shelby jumped back and screamed. Mom, who happened to be immediately behind her, pushed her right back in front of him.

"Will you marry me?"

"Of course!" she squealed.

"Good, I'm glad you didn't force us all to come up here for nothing," Koda said.

Just about everyone who didn't already live at La Push was up here anyway, so Channing figured it would be a good time to pop the question.

"Get up; I can't kiss you while you're down there!" Shelby said, her smile stretching ear to ear, pulling him back up.

"Eww…" said Wesley.

"It's not ew, it's sweet and romantic," Rose corrected him.

"Something about which you know nothing," Ivy added.

"Ah-ha! Congrats little bro," Koda said, pulling Channing out of Shelby's grip to give him a noogie. Some people only act mature when absolutely necessary.

Speaking of maturity, Lena, who luckily got over her crush on me once she hit high school, was definitely having a face making contest with Koda and Layne's five year old daughter Charleigh. I wondered how the girl even got into med-school.

Britta and Kenley, who was very very pregnant, were over to the side, arguing about who had picked out the ring that Channing had gotten for Shelby.

By the time Britta had come back from college, Koda had met Layne and wanted to give up his wolf form, so he made Britta Alpha. She told me a few weeks ago that she and Hayden were thinking about giving up their wolf forms, and once that happened I would be Alpha.

"Hey baby," Megan said, snaking her arms around me.

"When did you get here?" I asked.

"Just now…Alice had a vision of the humans here being all excited, so Ava and Collin wanted to come up and see what was going on. I just wanted to see you."

Grandad waved. Ava was busy inspecting Shelby's ring.

Megan definitely had not joined the Cullen clan, we were perfectly happy in Alaska with the Denalis, but she and Rosalie Hale got along very well (who would have guessed?) so she did hang out with them sometimes.

"Oh, Caleb you're…oh," Mom said coming over, but when she saw Megan she turned around. Unfortunately Megan was not on Mom's list of people to reconcile with during her mid-life crisis. She was civil to Megan when she came over; she tried not to show her resentment, especially in front of me, but everyone knew they would never get along.

"Come on Kelsey, be nice…" Ava whispered. She was little better though. She could hold a short conversation with Megan, but according to Edward if we stayed for more than a day or two that Ava had several plots in which Megan was "accidentally" injured.

Strangely I was not offended by this. Partially because I knew that they wouldn't actually kill her if only for me, and also because I could understand where they were coming from. If someone tried to kill Shelby I'd likely be making death plots for them too.

"Hey buddy," Grandad said, coming up behind me. Seeing him as a vampire was so weird.

"Hey Grandad."

"Everybody's growing up," he said.

I nodded. "Time doesn't stand still."

"I know, but we do."

I looked out at the beach. We did. We were standing still in the rushing tide of time. As the waves of fate rearrange the grains of sand, people who may have just as likely never met, like Megan and me, or Claire and Abby, or even Mom and Ava, come together and become so close. Yet even the bonds of love are not enough to keep the waves from coming and washing the sand away again. We who normally were invincible were helpless as the waves came and changed things. The love that kept us rooted could also cause us to cut our ties, and if the tide were strong enough, let ourselves be swept away in the moment.

* * *

**Awww...sadly, this is the last you will be hearing from the Jacobs/Clearwater family. I'd like to say that I've throughly enjoyed writing for you all and greatly appreciate your support and reviews. As always, a special thanks to Shelby and Megan without which this story would have been very different, likely not as good, and not on the internet. Hope you enjoyed it!**

**Hufflepuffbrunette :)**

**PS Sometime after next Monday I will be posting a new story, Shell, that, although is in the same universe as Solstice and Equinox, will focus on a new character in a very interesting situation. Be on the lookout for it!**


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